


She's Having My Baby

by LZClotho (LZielinsky)



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Domestic Evil Queen | Regina Mills/Emma Swan, F/F, Magical Pregnancy, Post-Neverland (Once Upon a Time)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-17
Updated: 2019-10-03
Packaged: 2020-09-06 06:48:02
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 25
Words: 72,306
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20287162
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LZielinsky/pseuds/LZClotho
Summary: Following their rescue of Henry from Neverland (s2), Emma and Regina turn their attentions to preparing for the arrival of their very own True Love child by building their own relationship. Magic!baby. Rated M for sex. Sequel to my fics "Never Lie to Your Doctor" and "A Mother's Heart."





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted a chapter at a time on FFN, it is being posted here a few chapters at a time (as I edit). There is no set schedule for adding chapters, but since it's all finished, I **will** get it all up. Promise. ~ LZ

**Author's Note:** It's been a VERY long time since I've written something new in SQ fandom. A long time ago I wrote a fic titled "Never Lie to Your Doctor" where Regina found out she was pregnant in Neverland. This story follows that and also my other Neverland fic, "A Mother's Heart."

Thanks go to Carolyn for her encouragement, beta reading, and editing.

**She's Having My Baby**

**Chapter 1**

Emma hugged Henry from the left, her left arm wrapping around his back, her eyes squeezed shut with the effort to hold back her tears of relief. The hug wasn't as tight as she wanted it; they were both in heavy coats guarding against the cold night. But she was aware of another arm, another body in the hug: Regina. She opened her eyes and found dark lashes squeezed shut, tears gathering underneath as the brunette was also trying to rein in her own emotions.

They had Henry back. They had once again triumphed. Only together. Emma shifted her arm, the movement bringing her hand against Regina's side, enough of a disruption that the dark lashes opened, brown eyes meeting Emma's, still filled with the emotions of relief and love for their son's safety.

"You did it," Emma murmured, the awe from witnessing the golden heart created from a combination of Emma's DNA and Regina's magic as it entered Henry's unmoving chest.

"We did it," Regina corrected, and it could have been stern, just like Regina's snark of old, secure in knowing more than the blonde. But Emma tangled her fingers in Regina's when she heard the catch in her voice.

Henry's movement, easing back from between them, caught their attention then. "Moms?" he said, the collective term seeming to fall easily from his tongue.

"Hey kid," Emma gruffed and covered the emotion crowding out her voice.

"Yes, Henry?" Regina said, her voice higher, light, her own method for covering feelings of vulnerability.

Emma started to smirk then compressed her lips as she caught Regina deliberately purse her own lips and turn her head to avoid Emma's gaze.

"Can we go home now?"

"That's the plan, kid," Emma said easily.

Regina stepped away and nodded. "We captured Pan's shadow and we'll use that to fly back to Storybrooke."

"Can I watch?" Henry asked, even as he smiled at his mother.

The brunette turned her hands over each other, tugging off her gloves. Emma took in the brunette's figure for the first calm moment since everything had nearly gone pear-shaped. She felt her cheeks heat, recalling one night of sweet passion. A derpy smile tugged at her lips when her gaze intersected Regina's middle. _They were no longer just Henry's moms_, Emma thought.

Glove-free hands cupped Henry's cheeks and Regina kissed his forehead. "You stay here. Regain your strength. It won't be long and then we'll be home."

Henry nodded, accepting the instructions. As he went back to lay down Emma moved after the brunette, grasping Regina's wrist before she was out of reach.

"Hey," she whispered.

"What?" Regina asked, her tone conveying anxiety and tension in the single word.

"Be careful," Emma pitched back, less tense, but similarly earnest. Regina arched an eyebrow in surprise. "You need rest too," Emma insisted.

"I'll rest when we're safe back in Storybrooke," Regina replied. Reading her, Emma sensed annoyance in the brunette's voice.

"We should talk," Emma said. Meaningfully, she dropped her hand from Regina's wrist and brushed Regina's middle, while looking directly into the dark eyes.

She started to lean forward, just a second was all she would need to brush their lips together, she thought. But a warm hand pressed hard into her collarbone stopped her. Regina glanced over Emma's shoulder toward Henry. Emma didn't; her gaze remained fixed on Regina.

"Not here." Regina turned away and walked up the wooden steps, leaving Emma to stare up after her.

"Mom?" Henry's voice called Emma.

Emma turned. "Yeah?"

"What happened while you were searching for me on Neverland?"

"Lots of things happened. Pan was a trickster," Emma said easily. "Liked his games."

"No," Henry said. He situated himself higher on his pillows, smoothing the blanket over his legs. "Between you and Mom."

Emma glanced toward the opening where Regina had disappeared. She weighed how much he could discern and how much she should say without Regina there to speak for herself. She decided on a simple summary and turned back to face Henry. "Your mom and I both love you very much. We were terrified when you went missing. So we decided we had to work together."

Henry canted his head, his eyes narrowing slightly. Emma knew that meant he didn't quite believe her.

"Can you wait until we can both talk to you?" Henry's look didn't subside, but he nodded and didn't ask again, instead rolling onto his side to sleep.

Silence fell as Emma felt the jolt of the ship as it was rising into the air. She was a little alarmed. She was certainly not used to flying ships, having seldom even been on an airplane. She sat down on the side of Henry's bed and nervously plucked at loose threads in the blanket.

"Is my dad going to stay in Storybrooke?" Henry's voice broke the silence as the ship's flight seemed to level out.

Emma blinked, blindsided by the change in topic, but also clueless as to the answer. "I don't know. He's just reunited with his own father. So...maybe. That's a question for him, I guess."

"Will you let me see him?" Henry asked. "Get to know him?"

"I didn't _not _want you to know Neal, Henry. He wasn't around when you were born, and as far as I knew, he never would be."

"What about now?"

"We'll see," Emma said. "Things might be changing once we're back in Storybrooke."

* * *

David leaned hard on Mary Margaret, still weak, but alive, from his bout with the Dreamshade poison. Following them down the gangway positioned by the dwarves lining either side like sentry guards, Henry leaned on his mother Regina. The stocky men reached out and patted the boy on his back and shoulder, welcoming him home.

Emma smiled. Henry was still weak, but he was alive. She had not thought it possible. Watching him give his heart to Peter Pan had devastated her. She recalled it all so vividly that she would likely have nightmares for weeks to come.

Regina catching Henry's collapsing body and running. Emma frantically clearing the way through to the skiff they had taken to Devil's Island and then tearing through the brush toward the coast where the Jolly Roger lay. She hadn't even thought for one second about her parents who went after the vanished trickster.

Safely aboard the Jolly Roger, Emma and Regina sat sentinel over their unconscious child. They had talked of his earliest moments of life with each of them. It was then that Regina - beautiful, smart Regina Mills - had hit upon an incredible idea. She created a new heart for Henry from a sample of Emma's own.

Afterward, palms resting together on Henry's sleeping chest, Regina had lifted her head and met Emma's gaze. She smiled softly through tears sparkling in the corners of her brown eyes. "Thank you," she said

Regina's lips had quivered, looking kissable, and Emma had started to lean forward to seal a connection she could feel. Above them, however, the sounds of Emma's parents and Hook clambering aboard the ship disrupted their private moment. They'd emerged, prepared the sail with Pan's shadow, and flown home.

Standing to the side, Emma felt out of place as she watched her parents together. Mary Margaret asked David, "How do you feel?"  
David winced but gamely smiled. "Pretty good, actually. I think the water must be working."  
Hook preened and Emma rolled her eyes. "Aye, it is. Dreamshade overtook my brother the moment we left Neverland."  
Brightly her mother assure, "Gold will find a cure. You'll be okay."  
Emma caught her father's side glance. "I have to admit, there was a minute there I didn't believe we were all going to make it out of that place."  
Her father smiled at her. "Well, we did." She could almost hear the undercurrent, _Now do you believe?_  
Emma looked away from her father and spotted Regina standing off to the side away from the revelers. Just as she took a step toward her, Mary Margaret's loud voice made her jump. "And we owe a lot of it to her. Regina helped save us all."

Giving her mother a startled look, Emma felt the astonishment of others roll over her. Out of the corner of her eye, Emma thought Regina looked equally surprised at Mary Margaret's open praise.

_A lot of surprises on this trip_, Emma thought. She stood back as her parents were greeted and Henry was cheered, Emma studied her hands then stuffed them into the pockets of her overcoat in an attempt to hide that she was filled with uncertainty.

Sensing movement close by, Emma jerked her head up to see the crowd leaving, walking with David and Snow at the head toward the center of town. Emma spotted Regina moving slowly behind the crowd She walked alone, taking her gloves from her hands, which should have been a move of casual elegant arrogance. But instead Emma saw only that the brunette felt exactly like Emma: out of place and dazed.

As her gaze drifted down and away from Regina's face, Emma caught sight of the woman's waistline. Fancifully - it had been barely two weeks after all - she thought she saw a gentle bump and remembered what had been revealed shortly after their arrival to Neverland. What had transpired on the boat. Regina carried proof of a connection that went beyond them both being Henry's mothers.

She and Regina had not always seen eye to eye on how to get their son back, nor had they a chance to discuss the woman's pregnancy, even as Regina ducked behind trees periodically to throw up.

Trying to look and sound nonchalant, Emma gradually moved closer to the other woman as they walked on the street.

"You, uh, wanna catch a bite?" Emma asked.

Regina canted her head. "We are all going to Granny's where, I presume, we will be eating."

"I, uh," Emma lifted a hand to her hair and sifted down through the locks to keep her nerve steady. "We haven't really had a chance to talk."

"We're talking now."

"I mean, about…" Emma gestured gingerly.

Regina hastily grabbed Emma's fingers before they could make contact with her belly. "Miss Swan!" she whispered with a hiss. "Do not touch me."

"We should to talk about how to handle this," Emma said.

"You've had two weeks."

"We were busy!" Emma protested.

"No. It's too late."

Emma felt the blood drain from her face. "Regina, it's going to be impossible to hide."

"Emma, who's going to believe me that it's anything but a trick by the Evil Queen?"

"You heard Mary Margaret. She said you saved them, saved us."

When Regina didn't immediately say anything, Emma realized someone else had come up. She moved her gaze from Regina's to see Hook approaching. She smiled at him, grateful he'd saved her father.

He leered back. "So, Swan, fancy another ride on the Jolly Roger?" he asked.

Emma hesitated, so flat-footed by his innuendo she didn't how to respond. Regina moved away from her and she jerked to action. "Regina! I'll talk to them."

"Pirates seldom take no for an answer, Miss Swan," Regina said, not looking back.

Hook shrugged affably. "The Queen has the right of it, Swan. You're a fair partner in a fight, and a pretty sight. Join me."

"You're not staying in Storybrooke?" Emma asked.

"I seldom put into any port for long," he replied. "Besides, what's a pirate to do in a sleepy fishing town? Even one so magical as Storybrooke." For someone who disliked fishing, Emma thought, Hook was casting his line with determination.

She fretted; Regina was getting further and further away with every second. Wanting no confusion with Hook, even while she was confused about her situation with Regina, Emma squared her shoulders and met his gaze directly.

"Safe sailing, Killian. Far be it from me to keep you from your love of the sea."

Hook eyes widened with surprise but he said nothing.

In the silence, Emma exhaled with relief and stepped quickly around him. She lengthened her strides. She fixed her gaze on the dark-haired woman moving even faster half a mile ahead. Slowly but surely Emma closed the distance between them. When she was close enough she thought to shout, "Regina!"

Instead of turning, Regina raised an elegant hand, snapped her fingers, then vanished in a purple cloud of magic.

Emma arrived just where Regina had been standing. "Damn!" she cursed.

Dispirited, Emma stomped the rest of the way to Granny's.

* * *

Ensconced in a booth at Granny's near the back, Regina spied David and Mary Margaret with their heads bent close, whispering. Neal - Baelfire - talked with Belle and his father Rumplestiltskin never moved far from his side. The dark magic user seemed emotionally open in ways Regina would have never associated with the always scheming imp she knew.

Hook hovered near Emma who hovered near her parents. Each time Emma smiled at the pirate, Regina felt a sharp stab in her chest. When Rumple delivered a small potion bottle to David and the man drank, Emma seemed to find it was time to step away. She hugged her parents and the Charmings departed the diner shortly thereafter. Having seen the goopy loving looks between them, Regina had no doubt they were going to spend the coldest parts of the night in one another's arms. Regina barely suppressed her sigh at the Good couple once again enjoying a happy ending.

Emma moved toward the back of the diner; Hook followed. The blonde stopped to talk with Tinkerbell who was talking with Neal. Regina would have laughed at the sleight of tongue Emma employed next, but in a few seconds, Tinkerbell and Hook were left alone. Emma had walked off with Neal. So, maybe the pirate wasn't on Emma's list of suitors.

Neal - Baelfire posed a different set of problems in Regina's mind. He was Henry's biological father, whereabouts unknown even to Emma for more than 11 years, contributing to the blonde's abandonment issues. But now, seeing Emma tip her head back and laugh at something Neal said created a pit in Regina's stomach. They were Henry's birth parents. Emma moved reticently around Neal, that was plain, but it was also clear to Regina that Emma had not simply slept with Neal all those years ago as a one-night stand, but out of real feelings.

How could their one night, even filled with magic as it had been, ever compare with that? Regina thought sadly. She turned away from the and put her arm around Henry's shoulder.

"Hey, Mom," Henry said. "You haven't eaten."

Her smile a bit forced, Regina determined she would not say a word until Emma did. "I'm fine, dear. Have you eaten?"

"I'm not really hungry, either," he replied. "You wanna go home?"

Regina inhaled. Before Neverland, before he'd been kidnapped, she had done a pretty unforgivable thing, wiping Henry's memory of their conversation and planning to destroy Storybrooke with the failsafe diamond.

"I'm very glad to have you home," she said. He headed for the door and she followed him. Emma met them coming down the steps.

"Ma!" Henry leapt into Emma's embrace. When he let his birth mother go, he cast his gaze back and forth between the two of them. "So, tell me how bumpStorybrooke's still standing?"

"We stopped the failsafe," Emma said.

"Last thing I remember here was watching Mom try to slow the diamond down. Telling us we should all escape," he said. "I looked away and saw Tamara sneaking around at the mouth of the cave. I thought…" He trailed off. "She had something in her hands. I thought she might cave in the entrance. Trap us all in there."

Emma inhaled. "So that's when Greg and Tamara grabbed you."

"Yeah."

While they were talking, Henry had continued to lead them down Main Street. He was looking around at everything and wearing a dazed smile. He waved at some of the shopkeepers who hadn't gone to the celebration at Granny's. "I'm glad everything's back to normal," he said.

Regina saw Emma fidget and lick her lips. "Well, um, there are a few … there will be some… changes," Emma said. "Your mom and I kinda -"

Regina cut her off. "Henry shouldn't be overwhelmed."

"I'd like to know everything that happened," Henry replied.

"You should rest. You don't need to hear it all tonight," Regina said.

"You _will_ tell me, though, right? No more secrets?"

As they stood at the end of the path leading up to the mansion, Henry's earnest question took in Emma, too. The blonde rolled her lips and nodded. "No more secrets," she agreed.

"I believe your parents will be awaiting you at the loft, Miss Swan," Regina said.

"Yeah, okay. I'm gonna go, just for tonight, though. See you tomorrow yeah? Kid?"

"Love you, Ma." Henry kissed Emma and the blonde enfolded him in her arms before kissing his head.

"Love you too, Henry." Lifting her gaze from Henry's hair, Emma's eyes were a soft green, Regina easily recognizing the tender look from their shared night. "Have a good night, Regina."

Regina swallowed and said nothing. Henry enfolded himself under her shoulder and she wrapped her arm around his back. "Good night...Emma," she said. Emma smiled.

"Good night, Ma," Henry said and dashed into the house.

Regina followed him. When she turned to shut the front door behind her, she saw Emma standing in a pool of light from the streetlamp. She gripped the pickets of the fence, the tender look and smile still evident on her features. Emma radiated determination.

Regina's stomach fluttered and she unconsciously covered it. Emma's smile quickly loosened her fingers from around the pickets and the blonde stepped back to the sidewalk.

Regina followed Emma's progress as the woman passed in and out of the pools of lamp light. Finally she closed the front door of the mansion.

As if on cue, she heard Henry moving around in the kitchen. "Hey, Mom, where are the leftovers?"

###


	2. Chapter 2

Snow came up the steps to the raised space where Emma had slept since she'd first moved into the loft during the curse. Her daughter stood by her bed, a duffel lay open and her box was nearby. As always, Snow looked fondly upon the baby blanket Emma had been wrapped in when she was born. Her daughter, the Savior. "You have some laundry to add to the wash?" she asked.

Then she realized items weren't coming out of the duffel but going in. "What're you doing?"

"Packing," Emma said. She continued to fold and place items into the duffel and box. The bedside table was nearly empty already.

"I can see that," Snow said. "Why?"

"You and Dad want another kid. It's gonna get crowded here," Emma said. "Besides, I want to spend time with Henry. We just got him back."

"I thought Henry would come live here."

"That's not a good idea. Like I said, crowded. Besides, he needs to spend time with Regina."

"What about Baelfire?" Snow said.

"Neal? He may be Henry's father, but Regina and I are Henry's parents."

"So where will you be staying? Are you going back to the rooms over the diner?" Snow asked.

"I'm asking Regina if I can move in with her and Henry."

"Mifflin? She'll never...Regina's a very private woman. She'd never -"

"Situations change," Emma interrupted. "People change. Regina and I… we're connected. She'll see that."

"Emma, you're the Savior, she's… well, you mix like oil and water."

"You said yourself Regina saved us. She saved Henry. She's…" Emma shook her head. "She's changed."

"You know, you never explained how it is Henry got his heart back." Snow sat down on the bed.

Emma sat next to her. "Regina used my heart to make him a new one." To Snow's ear her daughter sounded awed.

Snow had no idea such magic was possible. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah, I'm absolutely fine. Regina took, well, like a tissue sample. Then she formed the new heart and we put it in his chest. Together."

"That does sound incredible."

"I just think I should be around... Regina… more. Help her out. Learn more about my own magic. She can teach me. That way I can … protect things."

"The Blue Fairy could teach you, too."

Emma shook her head. "I think it's important to work with Regina. It'll be better."

Snow thought about that. "Because you're her opposite? Your destiny is to defeat the Evil Queen."

"She's not the Evil Queen. You said it yourself. She's changed."

Snow suddenly saw merit in the idea. "I think it's a great idea. Your father and I were trying to figure out what to do about her roaming free. Maybe we don't need to lock her up if you're going to be guarding her."

"That's not exactly what I meant," Emma said.

"But you're the Savior. That's your job. You're right. It will be the best. You should move into the mansion. We'll tell Regina it's house arrest with you or a magic-dampening cell." Snow jumped up and headed for the door. "Come downstairs when you're packed."

Emma sighed as her mother left her bedroom. "Damn," she muttered. How could she convince Regina she wanted to be her partner if her parents set her up as the woman's jailer?

She muttered under her breath trying out words she had sought all night. "Mom, Dad. Hey, uh, Regina's preg - No, Regina's having my - No, no. She's ours… Regina and me, when our magic combined - shit, they could think that Regina directed it."

Why couldn't she make the words come? She tried in her own head, just as she had all night, laying away staring at the ceiling. Mom, Dad, Regina's pregnant. The evidence would be plain to see soon enough. But they'd never believe it was Emma's child, too.

Even though Emma had felt the baby's presence in Regina's womb when she first learned of the pregnancy, and then again last night before leaving Regina at the mansion, it was still pretty far-fetched for her to think about. Which is why she hadn't said anything when she first learned of it two weeks ago.

She also fretted. Her foster parents at the time she'd had her first relationship with a girl hadn't accepted her. Had thrown her out, back into the system. Putting aside the whole Savior and Evil Queen thing, did Snow and David accept same-sex relationships? Would she lose them over this?

Emma bit her lower lip. She remembered how miserable she was alone and pregnant with Henry. She would not, could not, let Regina go through that. She would have Emma's support for anything and everything she needed.

Duffel packed, Emma threw it over her shoulder and grabbed her box. After a last glance through her room she decided she hadn't missed anything and headed downstairs.

Downstairs, Emma spotted parents in the kitchen. Both stood at the stove cooking - oh. Wait. Um… Emma stopped, frozen in place as she realized her father was kissing her mother's throat while wrapped around her from behind. He was… Emma dropped her box and bag loudly to the floor.

David and Mary Margaret spun around, sputtering.

"Oh! Oh! Emma. Emma, hi," Mary Margaret finally managed. "Breakfast is almost ready. We can tell your father the plan."

Emma squared her shoulders and stepped over her bag and box to enter the kitchen. "Mom, about this plan... I need to tell you something first. It may be a bit hard to believe, but -"

"Morning, Em." Neal entered the kitchen from the far side, stepping out of the bathroom, wiping his hands on a towel.

"Neal. What are you doing here?"

"Your parents invited me over last night, said I could visit with Henry."

"Henry's with his mother," Emma said. She moved no further into the kitchen toward the breakfast table.

"With Regina," Neal said. His tone was flat, clearly dismayed.

"Yes." Emma replied firmly.

"You think I could see him?"

"That's Regina's call, not mine," Emma said.

"Oh," Neal said. He looked from David to Emma. "Well, I guess I should get going. Uh, David, thanks for… well, thanks." He stepped away from the stove. Emma realized she was blocking the way to the door and took a step back. He paused and rubbed his chin before glancing quickly at her and then away. "I...guess I'll see you... around?"

Not if I see you first, Emma thought. She muttered, "Yeah."

Neal swallowed stiffly and nodded. Despite herself, Emma acknowledged he was a person who knew how to read her. He recognized he was being pushed aside. She held herself back from saying something to him. He apparently didn't need her to confirm anything aloud because in the next moment he walked out the front door.

Maybe, she thought, they could talk later, fully clear the air. But he'd known not now, not in front of her parents. So deep in thought, Emma was startled by her father's voice. "Breakfast's ready."

Covering her jumpy reaction with pursed lips then smothering an abashed smile when she caught her father's grin, Emma walked quickly past her parents and sat down at the kitchen table. The last thing she needed was her parents trying to fix her up with Neal.

"So, I hear there's a plan?" David said as he set plates of eggs, bacon, sausage, hash, cut fruit in the middle of the table.

"Emma's going to monitor Regina under house arrest," Mary Margaret stated cheerfully.

"Mary-Snow-Mom," Emma stuttered. Putting down her fork she shook her head. "I really don't think that's a good idea."

"I don't either," David said. "Regina's dangerous. She should be locked up. Have her magic taken away."

Emma shook her head, this time at her father. "I thought you both understood how much Regina's changed. You -" She shot her mother a glare. "Spoke out on the dock, said that she saved you in Neverland. Why would you do that if you didn't think she'd changed?"

"Emma, she's got the box with Pan inside. How can we be assured she won't let him out simply because we've taken Henry from her?"

"You're not taking Henry away from Regina." Emma stood up. "Absolutely not. We're raising our children together and you will not -"

"Children?" Mary Margaret cocked her head. "Are you planning to adopt one of the Lost Boys we brought back with us?" She beamed. "Oh, honey, that would be wonderful of you. I was thinking we needed to settle the matter of the orphans soon." The pixie-haired brunette gave a matching pixie smile. It was like a light beam that hit Emma square in the chest. She sagged.

"Mom, I -"

"Who were you thinking of adopting? Felix? Vern? Oliver? No…" Mary Margaret trailed off on her own thoughts before blurting. "It's Randy, isn't it? He really looked up to you on the ship."

"Mom, I am not adopting Randy, or any of the other boys. Henry is my son. Mine and Regina's. And I intend to raise his sister with her, too."

Mary Margaret's face screwed up in an expression that Emma couldn't interpret.

David, however, apparently could. "Whose child are you carrying, Emma? Neal's or Hook's?" He looked ready to tear someone apart.

"What!?" Emma blurted. "I haven't slept with either of them! It's not me who's pregnant -"

"But you just said," Mary Margaret cut in over her words.

"It's Regina!"

"What?!" chorused both David and Mary Margaret. Emma covered her face with her hands.

Taking a deep breath, Emma finally dropped her hands and moved her gaze from her mother to her father, finding it a little easier to speak to David than Mary Margaret. "Regina is pregnant. It happened in Neverland."

Mary Margaret however had the questions. "She told you this? When? Who's the father?"

Emma looked at Mary Margaret. "I am."

"That's absurd!" David said. "You. She. Can't. It's not possible."

"It was our magic," Emma explained. "Our magic that combined to save Henry, our magic that we both have." Emphasizing the combination, the both, Emma hoped they would not suggest that Regina had somehow used her.

"You only used magic together the last few days on the island. She was away from us for some time, Emma. It could be someone -"

"It's not," Emma said quickly cutting off her father. "The...Regina and I were together at the beginning of the trip, trying to figure out how to rescue Henry. We had no idea whether we would find him or not."

"You were talking. That's not how - This is ridiculous!" Mary Margaret cut herself off. "Regina is not pregnant. Even if she is, it is certainly not your child."

Emma sat back down trying to figure out how to explain. Start at the beginning, she decided. "Look, do you remember when the Lost Ones attacked and we got back to the boat?"

"Yes," David said. "You magicly brought us to the boat, to safety."

"Gold brought you back, but my magic reacted to Regina's emotions and brought me back first. She had just learned she was pregnant."

"Who told her?" Mary Margaret's fingers curled and uncurled on the table.

"Gold."

David grasped Mary Margaret's hand. Emma fretted with her own fingers in front of her plate. "He's a trickster, Emma. How can you believe this?"

"It's no trick. I've felt her." David frowned; Mary Margaret pursed her lips. "The baby is a girl," Emma clarified. "She was made with our magic, Regina's and mine. I can feel her when we're close."

Mary Margaret and David fell silent. Emma dropped her gaze and found her barely begun breakfast no longer steamed. It had gone cold. Her stomach grumbled.

"Finish your breakfast. We're going to see Regina." Mary Margaret's tone was sharp, dark, bitter.

Henry answered the door. "You've come to take me to the loft?"

Emma noticed he didn't call it 'home' and smiled at him. Her son knew where he rightfully belonged.

"We want to talk to Regina," Mary Margaret demanded.

"We're about to have brunch. Mom's in the kitchen." Again, Emma smiled at Henry's easy tone

"Wouldn't magicking something up be quicker?" Mary Margaret asked.

"Mom likes to cook," Henry said. "What's up?" His tone was now curious.

"Who's at the door, Henry?" Regina's voice coming nearby drew both Emma's gaze and Henry's.

"It's Ma, Gramma, and Gramps," Henry said.

As Henry finished speaking, Regina came into view. Emma felt her feelings surge again as she took in the other woman's appearance. Her brow was slightly shining, probably from the kitchen's heat. She had a bunched apron in her hands, obviously just removed. On her feet were house slippers, but otherwise typically attired, wearing a pair of dark slacks, a vest with crochet front panels, over a blue button blouse.

"What is it, Snow?" Her tone was mild.

"We need to talk," Mary Margaret said. She and Regina's gazes warred for several seconds of silence.

When there was no explanation forthcoming from Snow, Regina said quietly, "Henry, please sit down and eat. David," she added politely, "if you wish, you can join him. There's more than enough. Snow wants us to talk alone, I believe."

"Mom?" Henry's query brought Regina to his side and a hand on his shoulder when she kissed his cheek.

"It won't be a minute, Henry. Go on."

When Henry moved, David, indeed, followed him. This left the three women spread across the mansion doorway.

"Should I ask you in, or would you rather I step out?" Regina asked.

"Regina," Snow said sharply.

"You don't have to do this," Emma said finally.

"Clearly I have already done something. At least I'm getting a chance to address it instead of summarily being thrown in a cell somewhere."

"No one's throwing anyone anywhere," Emma argued.

"So what is it, Snow?"

"Emma told us what happened in Neverland."

"And so quickly." Regina's brows narrowed at Emma and she flushed. But then she raised them toward Snow. "Are you certain that was everything? Quite a lot happened after all, dear." A forced lightness pervaded Regina's words. "We rescued Henry and saved your shepherd from having to live out his days in that insufferable place. We were all threatened with annihilation by that boy-child trickster Pan, but we trapped him and have finally come home."

"What happened between you and my daughter," Snow snapped.

"Are you asking?"

"Regina," Emma tried to intervene.

"No," Regina fumed. "I want her to tell me exactly what her problem is - It's my body, not hers."

Snow hissed. "Are you with child?"

"Henry is with me," Regina replied calmly.

"That's not what I meant and you know it."

"If it isn't what you meant, then I beg you, dear, do tell."

Snow hissed again. "Are you pregnant?"

"Ah, there it is." Regina touched her hand to her waist and Emma wanted to reach out to hold it, hold her. "Yes."

Snow's face screwed up with pain and anger, and helplessness. "How?"

"I spoke with you about the birds and the bees when you were a child, my dear."

"But this took magic. You used magic on Emma to do this."

"You think I arranged for this?" Regina scoffed.

"Mary Margaret. Snow. Mom," Emma stepped between them. "I told you it was our magic." Emma inhaled. "That makes this baby my responsibility."

"What baby?"

Emma, Regina and Snow stared at Henry who had walked back out to the foyer from the kitchen. In his hand was a cookie.

"What do you have there, Henry?" Emma asked, hoping to divert him.

"It's a cookie. I finished my lunch. What's going on? What baby?" He studied Emma. "Did you get back with my dad, Ma?"

"No, kid."

"Hook?" Henry's screwed up features suggested he wasn't really happy about that idea.

"No, no."

David walked in, his face as curious as Henry's.

"Your mother," Regina said, "is not having another child."

"But there's a baby? I didn't see one on the Jolly Roger. Is it someone's here in Storybrooke?" Henry sounded excited now.

"No, kid, please stop guessing. It's just going to get more awkward." Emma put her hand on Henry's shoulder. "Your mom is pregnant."

Henry looked at Regina in surprise. "You told me that you couldn't get pregnant. That's why you adopted me." He looked at Snow and then Emma. When he continued, his tone was ruminating. "Neverland has magic. You said magic. Um, did Pan-?" Henry cut himself off unwilling to even finish that thought. Emma was grateful, and she was certain Regina was as well.

"If it wasn't Pan, who was it?"

Regina answered flatly, "Your mother."

Henry's eyes went wide and his head swiveled from Emma to Regina several times. "Really?"

"Seems our magic together is a little more than just useful for trapping bad guys," Emma said. She tried to keep it light.

"Wow." Henry studied them both from head to toe. "Are you…" He shook off that question and started with another, directed at Regina. "Mom, are you okay with this?" Then he seemed to remember who had snapped out the demand to talk which had sent him from the room. "Snow, Gramma, wait, are you not okay with this?"

Snow responded with a grumbled, "She's lying."

"Mom?"

"It's the absolute truth, Henry. I'm pregnant."

"She is, kid. I've felt the baby," Emma said.

"Wow." Henry stepped up to his mother and looked at her. "Can I give you a hug?"

"Of course." Regina's reply wasn't finished before Henry had wrapped his arms around her waist and pressed his head into her shoulder, giving her a warm, secure hug. He kissed her cheek before letting her go. "Sweetheart," Regina murmured, brushing her fingers across his cheeks.

"Ma?"

"I don't need a hug too, kid. It's okay."

"No, I think it would be a good idea if you moved in though. Don't you?"

Emma smirked when she caught Regina's frown and Snow's scowl. "I was thinking that would be a good idea. But my mom, and yours, aren't so keen on that."

"Yeah? Have you asked her?"

"Regina?"

"What?" Regina looked at Emma who simply cocked her head. Finally Regina spoke to Henry. "All right. Yes. Fine. Miss Swan - Emma - may move in - to the guest room." The brunette had added this last with dark brows lowered toward Emma. "I understand you think you need to be here, to be responsible, but the first time you attempt to stop me doing something perfectly reasonable I will throttle you. Is that understood?"

Emma's smile widened. "Deal." Then she did accept a hug from Henry. "Get my stuff out of the car?" she asked him when they parted. He took the keys to her Beetle and ran outside.

"You assumed I'd let you stay?" Regina asked, raising her eyebrow sharply.

"Let's say I was hoping to persuade you. But," she added, "the guest room?"

"Emma!" Snow jolted.

"What? You and David can, but Regina and I can't?"

"I thought you got pregnant by magic?"

"Some touching was involved," Regina replied.

David stepped forward past Emma and collected Snow by the shoulders, turning her around. "All right. Okay. I think that's our cue to be going. Come on, Snow."

"David, they've had sex."

"Snow…"

"You corrupted my baby," Snow whispered. When Emma reached for Regina's hand and held it between both of her own, Snow grimaced.

Henry came running up the walk and his return effectively silenced Snow.

"How about we meet at Granny's for lunch tomorrow?" Emma said. "I'm going to take Regina to see Whale in the morning."

David and Snow moved down the walk. A few minutes later from the front walk, Henry, Emma and Regina watched the truck heading back toward the center of town.

Henry smiled up at his mothers and they followed him back inside the house.

The afternoon passed with Emma and Henry playing video games. Despite not having been home for weeks, Regina insisted that she needed to clean up. Henry watched her skim through the living room, in and out of the kitchen. He heard the mixer and the oven timer going off more than once. Soon the wafting aromas of baked goods filled the house.

Regina brought out a small mixed selection of treats, cookies, muffins. She placed it down by Henry's controller. Since Emma was running through a level of Prince of Persia, Henry reached for the plate. When he picked up two cookies, Regina looked about to say something then shook her head. He handed one to Emma just as she finished the level successfully.

Emma bit into it and glanced up at Regina, who still had not spoken. She chewed quietly and smiled, and put the cookie down on the plate only half eaten.

Henry was bemused when he saw his mom follow the motion with a twitch of her lips. It was clear to him that she wanted Emma to say something, but had no idea if she really wanted to hear Emma say something.

"Good cookie," Emma said.

"They're Henry's favorite." Regina walked out of the living room.

Henry rolled his eyes and picked up his controller. "My turn."

The tenuous, uncertain looks between his mothers continued. When Emma went to put her things in the guest room, under orders to wash up before dinner, Henry finally decided to discuss this absurd impasse between them. "Shouldn't you be in my mom's room?"

"Regina's running this show, kid."

"Don't you love my mom?"

"Kid... Henry," Emma sat on the guest bed. "It's not that I -"

"Yes or no. Did you make that baby with love, or was what happened with my mom meaningless?"

"God, Henry, no. Look. I, yes, your mother and I connected while we were in Neverland, but the magic...We didn't expect that your mother would get pregnant."

"Well, duh, you're both women. It would take something more, something extra special." He smiled at her. "True Love magic."

Emma shook her head emphatically. "No. Your mother already had a true love. He died."

"So did you. My dad…"

"Neal is a great guy, Henry, but he was not my great love."

Henry looked down at his hands. "I think you're wrong. I think you love my mom and she loves you."

"Well," Emma sighed. "Let me and your mom figure that out, okay?"

"But I could help."

"No. No plans. No operations. I'm going to stay here and just help your mom as she goes through this pregnancy."

"That's all?" Henry asked.

"Yeah," Emma replied. "I'm just here to help her out."

Reaching the top of the stairs, Regina heard Henry's question and Emma's response. Her chest briefly tightened. Exhaling and rubbing at her sternum, Regina called out, "Henry, Emma, dinner will be on the table shortly."

###


	3. Chapter 3

Emma rolled quickly over and grabbed for her cellphone currently loudly proclaiming the early hour on the small single-drawer table next to her bed in the Mills guest room. "Sh!" she hissed at the device. She pulled the screen close enough for her to see the on-screen button and turn off the alarm. She exhaled to calm her racing heart when she finally had silence.

In the dark of the room, she looked around only vaguely able to take in the heavily curtained windows, the set of drawers where she had put away her few clothes. The mirror atop the drawers reflected the vaguest outline of her sitting upright amid crumpled blankets and sheets on the bed.

Standing up and shuffling in bare feet to the door, Emma gave herself a pep talk. "Five a.m., okay, Em. First day of the rest of your life. Go get 'er."

The "her" in question being Regina Mills meant Emma had a lot of hard days ahead. The brunette was mercurial at the best of times, but pregnancy, Emma knew, would add a whole new layer of complexity, from out of control hormones. Emma recalled her own pregnancy rollercoaster, being a raging madwoman one day and a weeping wallflower the next.

After a glance toward Regina's bedroom door assuring that the brunette was still asleep - no lights underneath, Emma entered the hallway bathroom. Once the door was shut and the light was on, she found her contact lenses and put them in. When the world was much clearer, she found she could think more clearly too. She finger combed her hair, stripped out of her boy shorts and tank top. Without waiting for the water to heat, she stepped under the shower spray and nearly bit off her tongue to silence her scream.

"Shit." She breathed out while her racing heart slowed and the water warmed. Washing with the available liquid soap and shampoo, Emma mentally ticked off a to-do list.

Determined to support Regina through the pregnancy and prove herself a worthy co-parent were long-term goals. However, Regina clearly was not simply going to take Emma's word. She had bristled at the notion she might need to be cared for. Maybe Emma could prepare breakfast for everyone as a good start.

Out of the shower and drying off, Emma couldn't help but take stock of her body in the mirror. She was fit, briefly flexing the muscles in her shoulders and back and smiling. Her gaze dropped to the faded marks on her lower abdomen from when she had carried Henry. Regina wouldn't like that, Emma thought. Though, she added, remembering their night aboard the Jolly Roger, Regina had not shied away from any part of Emma's body. She considered that they were both highly distracted and maybe the brunette hadn't noticed them. In any case, it gave Emma an idea. Researching ways to minimize stretch marks was a small thing she could do to show Regina she cared.

Tying her wet hair back in a ponytail, Emma returned to the guest room. Fresh underwear, jeans, and a t-shirt later, she stepped out into the corridor and down the steps to the first floor. Emma followed the glow of dim lighting into the kitchen and found the range hood's light on.

From there she found the refrigerator and retrieved coffee beans. She walked back to the side counter where she'd spotted a coffee maker. A quick hunt in the cabinet above and the drawer below located coffee filters and measuring scoops. Emma prepped a 10-cup pot, but wouldn't turn it on until she heard the brunette coming downstairs. If Regina didn't drink it all, Emma had a thermos for work she could fill with anything left over.

Finally, Emma turned on the main light over the central food prep island and started to bring out items for a morning meal. She found both sausage links and patties, bacon, eggs, and five different varieties of cheese. Peppers, onions were next from the vegetable hydrator. There were tomatoes, apples, and a melon, which she thought might be cantaloupe, too. She remembered being very hungry during her pregnancy, but she remembered also craving variety. At least until her dairy craving kicked in. Yogurt, cream cheese, just plain cheese chunks - she used to beg those off other inmates' plates in the cafeteria.

"Are you planning to feed all the dwarfs or the Lost Boys?"

Emma jumped. Regina was right behind her. She inhaled, catching the woman's scent, surprised to find it was oranges, not apples as she would have predicted.

"It's breakfast," she said.

"I can see that. But for whom?"

"You, uh, Henry, me. Us." Emma shrugged. "What are you doing awake already?"

"I'm typically an early riser."

"Oh. I just thought that was a result of being on the ship and the island," Emma said. She wanted Regina to know that she'd noticed. "Kind of hard to sleep when we were roughing it."

"Agreed," Regina said.

In the silence, Emma took a chance to study Regina. The brunette had on a long black padded satin robe, though the house was well-insulated from the blustery weather outside. Her hair was still damp from a shower, there was that scent of oranges again, and gray fuzzy slippers enclosed her feet. Emma swallowed as she thought about how she knew how ticklish those feet were.

Regina cleared her throat.

"So." Emma forced herself to lift her head and focus on brown eyes. "What would you like for breakfast?"

"I usually make Henry pancakes for a weekend breakfast."

"It's Tuesday, though," Emma said. "What's a typical morning meal for mighty Mayor Mills?" she teased.

Regina's head tilted slightly as if Emma's behavior was puzzling, which, Emma thought, it probably was. Eventually the brunette answered, "I have coffee and a muffin while I'm making Henry's school lunch, then I make his breakfast."

"Well, I'm here today and I can do all that. So, would you like something special?"

Regina's brows narrowed."Miss Swan-"

"Emma."

"Emma, this is not you. You don't even cook."

"I _do_ cook," Emma protested. "It's just easier when it's only me not to bother." She smiled and thought, _you're beautiful_. Regina's cheeks tinted red and she brushed a lock of her hair behind her ear. Sensing victory, Emma nevertheless resolved not to gloat.

Regina exhaled and the color receded from her cheeks. "We're going to do this every day until I say yes, aren't we?"

Emma grinned. "Yep." She popped the 'p' to lighten the mood.

"Fine. Just coffee and one of the apple cinnamon muffins I made last night, please." Emma noticed that Regina rubbed her stomach.

"That's it?"

"I told you that's what I typically consume."

"Yeah, but -" Emma cut herself off; she reminded herself not to push. Maybe Regina had some nausea this morning. "Okay. Fine." She flipped the coffee machine's switch and asked, "Would you at least like the muffin warm?"

Regina, who had started to leave the kitchen, paused in the doorway. She turned back, and Emma was treated to a smile that crinkled the corners of the woman's brown eyes. "That would be...nice."

"Okay. Yeah." Emma smiled back but Regina missed it since she had turned and gone quickly out of sight.

* * *

Regina walked quickly through the front door down to the curb and collected the day's edition of The Storybrooke Mirror. The typical action covered for her racing heart and flushed cheeks which had appeared the moment she found Emma in her kitchen _planning to make me breakfast_. The blonde's appearance, in tight jeans that hugged her hips and a t-shirt that outlined her body, had made Regina instantly feel warm. But her stomach had twitched and made her grumpy.

When she had first awakened that morning for a few moments she hadn't felt weird at all. She was surrounded by her familiar things, knowing Henry slept down the hall safely home in his bed.

She was standing and pulling her bedcovers up when she was assaulted by a sour smell. She realized it was her own body at the same time she felt her stomach flip and a spasm in her throat. She'd barely made it to her bathroom to throw up in the sink. She washed out her mouth, showered quickly, only to find she was put off by the smell of cocoa butter in her body lotion. Instead she found a scented body spray that didn't immediately turn her stomach: citrus.

She had sat on the chair in front of her vanity styling her damp hair when her brain finished cataloguing all the symptoms and reminded her she was pregnant. Her stomach had twinged but had seemed unlikely to rebel again. Parting her robe Regina had looked over her body to assess the differences. The areola around her nipples appeared darker and, her breasts did not fit in the cups of her bra as neatly. She had no idea what else to look for, or expect and the not knowing made her, a woman used to being well-informed, uncomfortably uncertain. She had closed her robe and gone downstairs to find Emma making breakfast. The blonde looked beautiful, fit, and _slim_ in her customary skin-tight jeans and fitted t-shirt.

Warring with the flash of resentment, Regina remembered Emma would know all about pregnancy. She had carried Henry for nine months. Walking back into the house, she avoided the kitchen and headed directly for her study. How could she ask without asking, and learn without having her own intellect questioned?

When she snapped open the newspaper and saw a Lost Boy had been arrested in the early evening trying to break into the pharmacy. Her stomach soured at the reminder of the cruel story she'd ordered Sidney publish revealing that Emma had Henry while in jail. Emma might not want to talk about her pregnancy, Regina realized. Every day Regina's growing condition would remind Emma of what she had gone through alone and unloved. The blonde might be giving now, kind now, but certainly there were limits to her tolerance. Regina crumpled the newspaper in her hands and bowed her head.

"Hey, you okay?"

Regina sniffled and lifted her gaze, finding Emma entering the study with a tray.

"It's just coffee and a muffin like you asked," Emma said.

Trying to discreetly wipe her face, Regina lifted the paper. "Just reading."

"Something awful happen?" Emma asked, leaning close and twisting to get a look at headlines.

"No." Regina shook out the paper, refolded it and set it down to the side away from Emma. " Thank you," she said, looking at the coffee in the cup swirling in the aftermath of Emma putting it down. The muffin had threads of aromatic steam rising as well. Regina inhaled. _Apple_. Her nose wrinkled.

"I didn't know if you wanted cream or sweetener," Emma said. "So I brought the packets I found on your dining table."

"I usually drink it black," Regina said. "But I think I should add cream." The idea instantly felt like the right choice the longer she contemplated it. "Yes, cream."

"Coming right up." Emma lifted her right hand, palm upward and flat. Her brows drew together. Following a brief flash of light, there was a dainty pitcher in the palm of her hand. "I set it out but left it on the counter," she explained when she offered it to Regina.

"You're working on your magic." Regina rolled her eyes at herself. _What an inanely obvious statement to make_. "Be careful," she warned.

"It's just a pitcher of cream," Emma said.

"Which could have spilled." Regina frowned.

"Well, it didn't," Emma snapped.

The retreat the blonde made - snapping on her heel and striding quickly out, slamming the study door shut, would have made Regina laugh at any time over the last two years. Instead, Regina's throat thickened with tears. "Damn." She eyed a box of tissues on a distant table, beside the bookcase and willed it to her hand. When it appeared, she realized it was empty. The tissues remained stacked on the table. Only the box had been transported by her magic. Stalking to the table, she took the box back over to the tissues. The entire pile fell into disarray when she tried to grasp just one off the top.

Fear sliced through her at the idea that her magic would be haywire for the duration of her pregnancy. Resolutely she tried another spell: putting the tissues back in the box. Two false starts further disheartened her, but she was not a wilting woman. Finally she focused on the magic tingling through her left fist, directed it, and the spell worked correctly.

Cream in her coffee did indeed make the drink go down smoothly. A few bites of the apple muffin were all she managed, however, before she had to close her eyes and give up. When she opened her eyes, a fresh orange sat on her desk. The aroma instantly made her mouth water. That was what she wanted. She gratefully snapped it up and peeled it, relishing the flesh of the orange skin catching under her nails and the juices dripping onto her fingers.

A flash of Emma underneath her on the Jolly Roger accompanied the robust bite she made into the fruit and the burst of tart juice on her tongue made her hum with pleasure.

When her coffee and orange were finished, Regina collected the cup and the plate with the muffin and the orange rind pieces and walked with them out to the kitchen where she found Henry pouring himself a bowl of cereal.

"Good morning, Henry."

"Morning, Mom." Barely looking up he dove into his cereal.

"Didn't you want me to make you breakfast?"

Between bites, Henry explained, "Emma told me to take care of it myself today." He shrugged. "Besides, you were busy in your study." Regina read her son's shrug as genuine. Henry hadn't minded handling things himself.

"Emma told you? Is she not here?" Regina was conflicted how she felt about that.

Unaware of her inner conflict, Henry answered her question. "Ma said she had to head to the station, but that she'd be back to take you to an appointment."

"Appointment?" Regina didn't get an answer to her question. Henry had shoveled the rest of his breakfast into his mouth, chewed and swallowed, dropped the empty bowl in the sink and scooped up his backpack.

He kissed her cheek but before she could kiss him back or offer a hug, he backed up. "Gotta get to school. Love you, Mom!"

Following him quickly to the door, Regina stood in the doorway and watched Henry run down the street. Mentally she checked off that he had his school uniform, his shoes, matching socks, and his lunch bag. _Had Emma made that for him, too?_ "Have a good day, sweetheart!"

"You too, Mom!" He waved and then was gone around the corner out of sight.

###


	4. Chapter 4

Regina critically examined her appearance in the full-length mirror in her bedroom. She refused to acknowledge her concern had to do with a certain blonde as well as the first time people would see her as mayor since... Well, returning from Storybrooke for starters, but also. She growled low in her throat as she smoothed her palms across her stomach. These were her last option. Several other ensembles had been previously selected and now lay haphazardly on the bed while she fretted about the way her slacks didn't lay correctly across her rear. Her favorite vest remained unbuttoned across her chest, making her feel less composed, less ... secure, because it didn't wouldn't smoothly lay over her adjusted bra. Her blouse was roomy, and she liked the way her hands looked beyond the cuffed full-length sleeves, not too puffy nor thin. She considered several necklaces, and briefly panicked when she closely examined a discolored spot against her throat that looked, she was sure to everyone, exactly like a hickey. But Emma hadn't... She sighed. Probably something to do with her hormones. She refused to show up to work unkempt, looking ravished, rather than ravishing. She couldn't bear to show weakness. A concealer stick pressed to the spot diminished the mark enough for her to finally move on.

She stepped outside the mansion to get into her car and drive to City Hall. Emma's bug was parked at the end of the driveway. The blonde leaning arms crossed against the passenger side.

"Time for your appointment," Emma said. "I got Whale to agree to meet us in the back."

"I'm on my way to the office."

"They know you'll be in after lunch. I already handled it." Emma stepped away from the car, pulled open the door and said cheerfully, "Get in."

Despite thinking, "You cancelled my appointments?" Regina found herself saying defensively, "I can drive myself." It felt like whiplash going from sharp anger to such a weak tone and she closed her eyes until the nausea and dizziness passed.

Regina heard a door close. Opening her eyes, she saw Emma put her hands on her hips, still standing by her yellow Beetle. Entranced again by Emma's figure, Regina watched the woman's fingers trace the stitch pattern on her jeans pockets for several seconds. "All right. We'll take the Benz."

Whiplash again. _Surprise_.

"No argument?" She briefly wished Emma would fight with her about this, but she also feared that the blonde would, or she would give up and leave her. Regina ground her teeth in frustration at her uncontrolled emotions and thoughts..

Her muscles tightened and her cheeks warmed when she realized Emma was walking toward her on the driveway. She inhaled. Emma's green eyes met hers. There was calm in the woman's expression, and her words, when spoken, sounded as serious as Regina had ever heard. "You asked me to not get in the way of things you can do. You're right. Driving should be fine as long as you can fit behind the wheel."

Regina's eyes watered. _She cares._ She swallowed down the traitorous lump in her throat and went with curt words to cover her rioting emotions. "Get in."

Emma's smile appeared, though tremulous. She walked around to the passenger side of the Benz. Once she had ducked down into the car, Regina groaned. _What the hell am I doing?_

Sitting down in the driver seat, Regina went through her pre-driving checklist. Assured everything was as it should be, she put her hand on the gear shift to put the car in reverse. Her fingers brushed Emma's resting on the center console. Before she could say anything Emma had withdrawn her hand. Aware of missing the warmth of Emma's touch, Regina turned to look out the back window.

* * *

Emma pointed Whale out to Regina coming around the hospital's Emergency entrance. He stood at the back door of the hospital with a nurse at his side when they pulled up to the loading curb. Regina asked, angry that her hand shook while she turned the car engine off. "What did you tell him?"

"I kept it simple. We want to confirm a pregnancy," Emma said. "I didn't say anything else. I figured you might want that 'need to know'."

Accepting Emma's words were honest, Regina stepped onto the curb and walked toward Victor. He smiled at her. She couldn't find it in her to smile in return. She straightened her shoulders, faking confidence and authority she didn't feel. Her heel caught on loose gravel. Emma's hand was at her elbow before she could fall.

"Madame Mayor," Victor greeted. "The Sheriff said there's something you need checked out?" Regina narrowed her brows at Victor, her lips tightening. "Let's just go inside, shall we?" He held the door. The nurse stepped aside.

Regina shook her elbow free of Emma's hand and stepped sharply across the threshold.

Inside the sterile white space, Regina's head swam under the fluorescent lighting. Victor's voice directed her, sounding distant behind the hum of her blood in her ears. "Turn left. The last exam room on the right."

She entered the room, staring at the examination bench, the visitor chairs, the cabinets, and sink with pump bottle soap dispenser. But it was a full bottle of white fluff labeled "cotton balls" that inexplicably jumped out at her. Victor retrieved gloves from a box on the wall.

"Is the Sheriff outside or in?" Victor asked.

Regina turned at the counter where she'd been staring at the cotton balls, fingers actually itching as though she could feel the cotton. "Oh? Um." Her gaze met Emma's across the distance. The green eyes searched hers. "Miss Swan may stay. If she wants to."

Emma stepped in and swiftly shut the door. She wiped her hands on her jeans and sat down in one of the two visitor chairs.

The nurse came up to Regina's side. "You'll want to sit here," she said, pointing to the exam bench. The woman's voice sounded kind and Regina briefly took measure of her: sandy-brown hair, brown eyes, round nose in a round face. She was shorter than Regina and thickly built. "Shoes off," the nurse said.

Regina complied, kicking her pumps toward Emma, who collected them. She tried not to think too hard about the loss of height. Now she was at eye level with the nurse. "What's your name?"

The nurse smiled. "Nurse Blayne." Then she took Regina's vest in hand. "If you get cold you can keep the blouse on your arms, but Dr. Whale will need to listen to your chest."

Dropping her blouse to her arms, Regina stepped up on the provided stool and sat down on the examination table. She set her hands to her knees, gripping slightly. Nurse Blayne asked for her wrist and Victor listened to her lungs through her back with his stethoscope. She followed the directions, "Breathe in, breathe out, deeper, slower," as best she could, but she could feel her palms begin to sweat. Regina sought Emma past the nurse's shoulder and immediately felt calmer when she found the other woman's green gaze.

"Your blood pressure is elevated," Nurse Blayne said as she wrote in a chart and passed it back to Dr. Whale. "But we'll get another reading later. Probably just nerves." Her words accompanied a pat on Regina's wrist that she found incredibly patronizing. She found Emma's gaze again and exhaled.

"Your lungs are clear. I can't hear any abnormalities," Victor reported. "So, let's get to why you're here. Emma says you want to confirm that you're pregnant?"

Regina nodded. "Yes."

"Lay back. Loosen the waist of your trousers." Dr. Whale's instructions were business-like, but Regina still felt a flutter as she complied. Her gaze left Emma's and she stared past Victor's head to the ceiling tiles.

He palpated her abdomen, the dry gloves irritating. Apparently trying to be conversational, he spoke again after humming about something he felt to the left of her belly button. "I was unaware you were seeing anyone."

"I'm not seeing anyone," Regina snapped. "We were rescuing Henry!" A chair clattered on its legs. Emma's face appeared at Regina's side. She exhaled.

"This rescue plan resulted in you becoming pregnant? Who's the father?"

Regina exhaled. "Emma." she finally said.

At the same time, Emma said, "Me."

"Oh," he said, looking between the two of them. "Magic."

"An accident," Regina said. Emma took a step back. Suddenly, Regina missed the warm touch of Emma's fingers. She hadn't even realized they'd been holding hands in the brief moment.

"Can you tell us that everything is, well," Emma said, again hands pulling back to stuff into her back pocket. "That Regina and the baby are both okay?"

"Well, there are tests to verify a pregnancy. I would presume for everything to proceed properly here in the normal world that you will present a lot of the same symptoms."

"Well, she definitely has the morning sickness and nausea," Emma said.

"That could always just be sour milk or bad food, Sheriff. We can be a little more scientific than that," Victor said. "I'll test your blood, Regina, for hCG. It's a hormone that all pregnant women produce." He stepped back. "Nurse," he said, and Nurse Blayne placed a syringe in his hand. With efficient movement, and minimal pain, Victor withdrew two vials of blood after puncturing the skin just below Regina's inner elbow. "I can check the other sample for several common conditions," he explained.

Nurse Blayne helped Regina sit up. "Thank you."

Victor looked at Emma who was looking away from the blood draw. "I'd love to know how you managed to magic up a baby when IVF isn't even 100 percent yet. You could make a bundle helping infertile couples conceive."

Emma turned back to Whale and Regina was mesmerized by the anger painting Emma's fair skin a blotchy red. There seemed to be a lot of words damming up in Emma's throat as she swallowed several times before simply stating, "No."

Victor seemed oblivious to the near-explosion narrowly avoided, shrugged, and taped up Regina's arm. "Okay." He turned to Regina. "If this confirms things, you'll need to schedule several scans and tests. We'll want to get you on a proper prenatal routine immediately."

Holding her forearm up against her chest, Regina nodded.

"We'll be right back." Victor waved Nurse Blayne out of the exam room, leaving Emma pacing and Regina still sitting on the exam table.

Regina hesitantly asked, "Emma?"

The blonde stopped pacing. "Yeah?"

"It _was _an accident," she said, realizing now what she had said had caused Emma's mood. "But the baby… she is _not _unwanted." She twisted her hands in her lap. "I… I'm sorry. Victor doesn't exactly bring out my best manners."

"Mine either." Emma sighed. "I'm sorry, too. I'm not the best person you could go through this with."

"You are the _only _person I could go through this with," Regina corrected. "Not the least because you are involved. You've also already experienced pregnancy."

"My experience wasn't anything like this," Emma said.

Regina nodded. "I know."

Emma looked down; Regina had taken her hand. "I… Regina, I know I'm going to screw up, get into your way, but… What I… it doesn't feel like this was an accident."

"Maybe not, but we're not in a relationship either."

"Maybe we could try? I'd like to… to, you know... Maybe? Find something we like to do together."

"Besides mothering Henry?" Regina asked lightly feeling her lips curve upward as she took in Emma's bashfulness.

"Besides that." Regina was pleased to see Emma's smile reappear.

"I'll think about it."

* * *

The pregnancy was confirmed. After conferring with a calendar, Dr. Whale gave them a due date in the fall. "But any delivery after the 30th week should be a safe one," he advised. "Schedule an appointment at the desk in another month." He finished writing on a prescription pad. "Pharmacy will fill this. It's a common prenatal vitamin. We'll determine any other needs at your next appointment."

"Is there anything I should be looking for?" Regina asked. She had reclaimed her vest and now sat on the second visitor chair next to Emma. She looked at Emma before squaring her shoulders. "It's my first pregnancy."

"Hmm." Victor canted his head as he thought. "There are a number of books about pregnancy available. I can ask the midwife to recommend one for you." He paused. "Once you're dressed, you can go. See you next month."

"Thank you, Victor."

"Magic. No father," he muttered on a laugh under his breath. "That's a new one."

Regina caught Emma rolling her eyes. She squeezed the blonde's fingers in her own, where they had yet again unconsciously connected.

"Do you want to go to the library?" Emma asked.

"That would mean telling Belle," Regina said with a shake of her head. "Rumple already knows, but I don't want to give him any more information than necessary."

"Do you think he could cause trouble for you or the baby?" Emma asked.

"Your father was right that Rumple always seems to have an agenda," Regina said. "But I can handle him."

"I will, too," Emma said confidently. "After all, True Love magic is the most powerful in the world, right?"

_True Love creates happiness_. Regina's words from ages ago echoed back to her. "Perhaps with a little more practice," she suggested with a wry smile.

Emma beamed. "So, our first date is with the internet."

Regina was surprised to feel her cheeks warmly flush. "I suppose so."

###


	5. Chapter 5

Regina insisted on going to City Hall for a few hours. "I can work."

Emma checked in at the Sheriff's station and then went across the street to Granny's for lunch.

"Hi, Em," Ruby greeted as she stepped up to the counter.

"Two lunches to go," Emma said, putting a foot up on the kick bar. Things were not permanently settled with Regina yet, but she was beginning to see the shape of it. She smiled, thinking about holding Regina's hand while the woman had her blood drawn. Even if she hadn't been able to watch, she had been there.

The brunette quirked an eyebrow. "Two? Who's your lunch date? Henry's still in school."

Emma smiled. "I'm taking Regina hers at City Hall. Just left her there doing some work."

"Her usual then?"

"Yeah." Emma cocked her head. "What is Regina's usual?" she asked.

From the back of the counter area, Ruby replied, loud enough for both Granny in the kitchen to hear. "Chicken Salad. Vinaigrette dressing."

"Okay."

Coming back to the counter, Ruby assembled a bag with plasticware, napkins, and the condiments. She asked, "Is it budget time? Is that why the Sheriff's working with the Mayor?"

"Regina and I are working on a project," Emma replied vaguely. The situation would be obvious soon enough, but it was important that Regina decide when and where.

"Okay, so Regina's getting a salad. What'll you have, Em?"

"Grilled cheese. And a tomato soup," Emma replied. "Warm up from the inside."

"Gotcha. It'll be right out. Fill up your To-Go cups at the fountain."

Emma took the two large paper cups over to the drink fountain and quickly programmed herself a cherry cola. "Hmmm," she hesitated as she considered what Regina would want to drink. If her stomach was going to be difficult for a while, maybe no sugar at all, or maybe… "Just text her," she muttered to herself, pulling out her phone and pulling up the woman from her contact list. She typed, "_What to drink with chicken salad?"_

Regina texted back a moment later. "_I have non-alcoholic cider."_

Working a hunch though, Emma filled the second cup with ginger ale. It had settled her stomach more than a few times during her pregnancy.

Ruby called her over. "Em, order's up."

"Thanks, Rubes. See you later."

Collecting the bags, and tucking the drinks in a cardboard carrier, Emma left quickly, walking past one of the dwarfs coming in for his lunch break. She thought the short, bald man might be Walter, aka Sleepy, but she only exchanged a look with him before the moment had passed.

* * *

Regina finally felt settled back in her element amid the petty bureaucrats at City Hall. She told Jeremy, her personal assistant, to call George, formerly King George, and currently Storybrooke's attorney, to prepare a report about all the city business conducted in her absence. "I want it tonight," she stated firmly.

"Yes, Madam Mayor." Jeremy smiled, not even looking up from the typing he was doing on a report in triplicate due to the comptroller first thing in the morning. "I'm glad Henry's safe," he added, just before Regina reached the threshold of her inner office.

Pausing in the doorway, Regina turned back. This time Jeremy looked up. She offered him a smile. "Yes. Would you please alert me twenty minutes before school is out. I'd like to pick him up today."

"Of course." One hand stopped typing and he made a notation on a pad, then both hand returned to the keyboard and the clacking resumed full speed.

Regina had just settled behind her desk when she heard Jeremy's chair move and then the man's voice. "The mayor is not to be disturbed."

"I brought her lunch. I think I'll be welcome," Emma replied.

As if on cue, Regina's stomach grumbled. She walked to the office door and opened it just as Emma reached it. "Sheriff Swan, thank you. Come in." Jeremy's jaw dropped, then snapped shut. "Hold my calls," Regina said.

"Yes, ma'am."

Regina turned to see Emma smiling at her, a knowing smirk on her lips. "Give me that." She snatched the bag the blonde held out and opened it to… "No," she murmured as she felt her stomach turn at the scent of chicken and what smelled like heavy oil. She thrust the bag at Emma and ran for the private toilet in the far corner of the office. "No, no," she muttered.

Emma caught the door before it slammed shut. Regina's eyes watered while she lost what little breakfast she had into the toilet. Her throat burned. Without thought she took the water cup Emma handed her and then pressed into the woman's arms. There were distant thoughts that this wasn't appropriate, that they weren't this close, but in the immediate now, she simply released her tensions into the strong, firm, warm body holding her close. She inhaled slow, shaky breaths. Emma handed her some tissue.

She wiped her mouth and pulled back. "I'm -" A green gaze held hers in silence. Emma gave a minute shake of her head. "Thank you."

Gentle, strong hands guided her onto the closed toilet. Dimly she heard the pull of the lever pull the flush of the toilet. Regina sipped at the cup of water, focusing on calming her pounding pulse which was doing its part to start what would likely be a world-class migraine.

"When you've been sick before, what's settled your stomach?" Emma asked.

Regina tried to remember. She was so seldom ill. But she did remember what helped settle Henry when he had the stomach flu at six. "Some ginger ale?" she thought aloud. "It worked with Henry."

"I'll be right back." Emma left the bathroom, and it seemed a rush of cold air took her place. Regina shivered.

When the blonde returned, Regina found a paper cup thrust out to her. "From Granny's," Emma said. "I had a hunch."

Regina took the paper cup in both hands and inhaled over the straw, catching the scent of ginger fizz. She was not one to drink sodas, but as the first sip slipped across her tongue and down her throat, she sighed in relief.

"It's so sugary," she complained, but she continued to sip, feeling better and better after each swallow.

"There's diet versions. I can pick up liters of it at the store," Emma suggested.

Regina hesitated when the end of the cup was accompanied by slurping sounds. She put it away from her mouth and onto the narrow bathroom counter.

Emma collected it. "Better?"

Pressing her hand over her stomach, Regina assessed her body's response to the drink and nodded. "Yes, I think so."

"All right."

Standing, Regina said, "I need to get back out there. George is due any minute."

"You want me to run interference for you, I will," Emma said. "Take the time you need."

"George won't take kindly to being diverted."

"Well, he's just gonna hafta deal," Emma said firmly. She closed the door, leaving Regina alone in the small space.

Regina rinsed her mouth with water from the sink and splashed cool water from the faucet against her face and throat. Patting her skin dry, she caught her reflection in the mirror. Her face was visibly flushed and her hands shook holding the towel. She closed her eyes, inhaling and exhaling to a slow count of ten. When she caught her reflection again, her color had improved and her hands were once again steady.

Out in her office, she could hear George barrel through people in his typical fashion. Emma's voice was calm as she stated Regina would be out shortly. "Sit down," the Sheriff said.

Regina could picture George's affronted expression at the sharp direction. While Emma's lack of respect for authority had rankled Regina for the last year, hearing that sharp tone being used on her behalf against someone as officious as George made her smile. However, she shouldn't allow things to escalate. She opened the bathroom door, took a small breath and tested her equilibrium. Finally she stepped out into view. "George, thank you for coming."

The portly man in a three-piece suit did not get to his feet. "The Neverland matter is concluded?"

"Yes," she replied brusquely, glancing up behind George to Emma who stood with her hands rather obviously over her badge and equipment belt. "Henry is where he belongs."

"I understand you allied with the Charmings while there."

"A necessity," she stated in an appropriately grave tone. She cast another glance toward Emma, hoping the blonde didn't feel the need to say anything. Probably better to let her go anyway. Regina could handle George. "That will be all, Sheriff."

Emma's head tilted, but even as Regina thought to retract her dismissal and ask the blonde to stay, just to be close, she also thought that wouldn't be a good idea.

The blonde sounded as ambivalent about leaving Regina as Regina felt. Green eyes searched her face. But at last, Emma shrugged. "Yeah, I-I'll... be back after my rounds, Re-Madam Mayor." Emma turned back at the door. "We, uh, meeting...Six o'clock?"

"I will be collecting Henry from school at three," Regina replied, hoping Emma would understand the unspoken invitation to join them. She glanced toward George. "This will be a short meeting," she told the man pointedly.

"Of course," George quickly replied. He looked over his shoulder at Emma, who studied him closely, her fingers brushing her badge. Then the blonde looked back and dipped her head toward Regina before stepping out and closing the office door behind her.

"Now then, George," Regina said. "Tell me everything."

###


	6. Chapter 6

Henry walked quickly out of school following the bell signalling the end of classes. A classmate named Grace walked next to him. He canted his head toward her curiously. When she smiled at him, he felt his stomach flip and quirked his lips back.

"I'm glad you're back safe, Henry," she said.

"Thanks," he replied.

They walked on a few more steps before she spoke again. "If you need help with your make up work…" Her voice trailed off.

"Nah, I got it."

For a moment Grace looked like she was in pain. Wondering if she had turned her foot on the loose gravel stones between the sidewalk and the parking lot, Henry looked down at her feet. When he saw no limp, he lifted his gaze back to her face. Grace shook her head and walked off.

A nudge came from his other side. "She _likes_ you," his friend Hansel said. The blond boy wore denim overalls and a gray long-sleeve shirt. 

"She what? No." Henry scoffed. "Grace is just being nice since I helped her reconnect with her dad." Henry pointed. The father in question, Jefferson, aka the Mad Hatter, was just lifting her into his arms and giving her a hug.

Hansel's blue eyes rolled. "You doofus, why would she offer to help you - the class _brain_ \- with your work? You should be offering to help her."

Henry shrugged. He doubted Hansel. Henry had seen plenty of Grace's spelling tests and math tests over the years. She didn't need his help.

Hansel rolled his eyes. "Henry you may be smart, but you are _so_ dense."

"Better dense than -" Henry cut himself off when he spotted Emma crossing the street. Ma high-fived kids walking past her. "Ma!"

"Hey, kid." Emma hugged him back when he wrapped his arms around her. "Have a good day at school?"

"Yep."

She bent down and hefted his backpack on her own shoulder. "Oof. What's in here?"

"Make up work." He groaned, but smiled. Having Emma pick him up from school was a treat.

"Make up work? Geez, you'd think being kidnapped to Neverland would rate a break on the homework." She laughed, shouldering the backpack anyway.

just then, Henry spotted his mom walking toward them, also through throngs of children. Unlike with Emma, however, most of the children gave her a wide berth. She smiled at them, but it was clear she was searching for him. Especially when her eyes lit up when she spotted him. "Hey, Mom!" He waved.

"Henry," Regina greeted effusively. "Emma," she added, with a more subdued tone, but Henry could see Mom's eyes become a soft caramel color when she looked at Ma. It was so different from the way they had been around each other the past year, all hissing and threats. He had no idea how anyone could miss the way their feelings had changed.

"How was George after I left?" Emma asked. Henry wondered what that was about.

"King George was his usual bureaucratic self, but I managed to head off any power-grab plans," Regina replied easily. She brushed Henry's shoulder and met his eyes. "Would you like a snack at Granny's before we head home?"

"Really?"

"Well, nothing too big to spoil dinner," his mom clarified. "Just cocoa or milk and cookies."

"Granny's just put out a fresh batch of chocolate chip," Ma informed him.

"You've already been to the diner?" His mom looked sideways at Emma.

"Making the rounds," came the explanation over Henry's head as the three of them walked down the sidewalk toward the diner.

Henry felt Emma's hand join his mom's on his back. He looked up at one then the other, remembering opening his eyes on the bed aboard the Jolly Roger and seeing them both, matched worried expressions looking at him. Now, his mom's cheeks were slightly reddened and the caramel shade dominated her eyes. He rolled his eyes then pulled away from his mothers' touch. "Race you, Ma!"

When he turned back to see if she was chasing him, Emma was still walking sedately next to his mom. She had closed the space vacated by Henry and was looking down at their fingers entwined. After looking up at Henry, Mom said something quietly to Ma. When she looked away, he ran on again.

* * *

The rapid patter of Henry's sneakers on the concrete walk brought Regina's head up. "Henry's run ahead," she said to Emma.

"We're in Storybrooke. He'll be fine," Emma replied. "Besides it gives me a chance to ask how you're feeling."

"I'm better. The ginger ale was very helpful."

"Good. They call it morning sickness, but honestly, I had it many different times of day. No real rhyme or reason. We'll look up more remedies, and information, tonight on the internet, okay?" Emma squeezed her fingers and Regina met her gaze. "I have to get back to rounds, but I'll be done at six."

"Dinner will be at seven. Though I have no idea what to make."

Emma's smile was gentle, but her tone was serious. "Pay attention to your body. If something doesn't smell or sound appealing, it probably won't do well for you."

Regina scoffed. "I can't survive the next nine months on just ginger ale and oranges."

"You didn't eat the muffin?" Emma stopped in mid-motion of opening the gate leading into the courtyard at Granny's.

Regina shook her head. "You'd already left, but... no, it… I used my magic and it gave me an orange." She frowned. "Usually those are too tart for my taste."

Emma's quirked smile turned into a chuckle. "Cool." Regina frowned. "I happen to like oranges. Maybe this kid will be a mini-me. It'll be a nice change since Henry's a mini-you."

Regina huffed. "My son is perfect."

"See? That's all you." Emma's fingers in Regina's twitched and Regina felt her cheeks warm under the blonde's green gaze.

"I may be a little late. About six-thirty?" Emma said.

"All right." Regina turned to watch Emma walk back to the street. "Be safe," she said, the words forming before she could think about them.

Emma turned. "I will."

Regina shivered slightly; the blonde's warm smile and even warmer gaze had touched her as tangibly as a caress.

Inside Granny's she was assaulted by the cacophony of plates and silverware, conversation and clomping shoes on the tile. She blinked and looked around for Henry. Finally, she located him at a booth far to the left near the front. He sat on the window side, and she guessed he'd been watching her and Emma in the courtyard. As he turned around, she slid into the bench opposite. "Did you already order your snack?"

"I waited for you." Regina felt her heart thump harder. She smiled and nodded to avoid the moisture gathering in the corners of her eyes from dripping down her face. _Damn_.

As if on cue, Ruby stepped up to the table. "Ready to order?" she asked.

"A glass of milk and cookies," Henry said.

"Regina?"

From behind a napkin, used partially to cover her eyes, Regina queried her stomach. Finally feeling centered, and not about to openly tear up, she lifted her gaze to Ruby and asked, "Is there any of the quiche left from breakfast?"

The young woman quirked her eyebrow but then shrugged. "I'll check. You want anything else?"

Coffee didn't appeal, and she had never liked tea. "Do you have a diet ginger ale?" Regina tried not to ignore Ruby's surprise but she did feel her face tighten when Ruby did a double-take.

Finally, the younger woman managed to nod. "Okay. We've got some of that."

When Ruby left to put in their order, Henry asked, "Are you okay, Mom?"

"Yes, dear," Regina said. "I just wanted something different."

"Okay." His smile was still edged with concern, but Henry said nothing else.

###


	7. Chapter 7

Regina took Emma's advice to heart. Planning dinner turned into a combination internet search and a magic query of her own body's preferences. Finally several ingredients her magic had decided she wanted lay on the central island: oranges, ginger root, and thin slices of soy seasoned beef steak. The recipe, which she had never made before, was Orange Beef, to which she planned to add her favorite spice: red pepper flakes. The rice was already in the freezer, cooling so it could be mixed with egg and vegetables for the fried rice side dish.

The sounds of sizzling beef and vegetables and the savory aromas of soy, ginger and the tang of oranges were pleasantly filling the kitchen by the time she heard the front door bell. A glance at her watch showed it was quarter after six.

"I got it!" Tromping loudly from the second floor, Henry rushed to the door before Regina could finish removing her apron.

She was turning toward the kitchen doorway when it was filled with Emma being dragged forward by Henry.

The blonde held a reusable cloth bag in her arms. Stepping into the kitchen she withdrew a bottle of diet ginger ale. "Here," she said, putting it on the counter. "I got two more, on special."

"Put this in the freezer so it will chill a bit before we eat." Regina gestured toward a narrow wooden door in the far wall. "Put the others in the cupboard."

"Okay." Emma inhaled as she crossed through the kitchen. "Whatever you're making smells delicious."

"It's a new recipe: Orange Beef," Regina answered.

"Oranges again, huh?"

"There is also ginger." Regina ignored Emma's snort of laughter. "And rice. It's Chinese."

"Yeah, I know." Emma was still smiling, but she seemed appropriately chastised so Regina turned away and tended the sizzling pan.

A glance to the side found Henry leaning on the counter studying both Emma and her. Regina cleared her throat. "Henry, please set the table."

He smirked and pushed back from the counter. "Sure."

Soon a clatter of dishes and silverware came from the dining room. Regina noticed Emma pinching a piece of carrot from the fried rice. "Go wash your hands, Miss Swan. Dinner is not yet finished."

Emma took her hand from the serving platter. "Gotcha."

Regina bit her lip as she realized how she'd sounded. "Em-" She took a step toward the blonde.

Emma shook her head, smiled, and lifted her hands. "It's okay. Be right back."

Regina shook her head, confused by her quick silver changes of emotions. She continued working on the meal. She replayed Emma's arrival, finding herself wanting to change the distance from formal to intimate. Maybe a "hello" and a- a kiss? She wet her lips at the thought.

Emma didn't return to the kitchen. Regina heard Henry intercept his birth mother. "Come play a game until dinner's ready."

Regina listened closely, curious to know Emma's response. "We can't just leave your mom in the kitchen."

"Mom!"

Regina jumped. "Yes, Henry?"

"Is it okay if Emma and I play PS4?"

Regina imagined having Emma in the kitchen with her and wanted to say "no." She wanted the blonde's touch suddenly desperately. Heat rose in her cheeks and she envisioned the woman's green gaze catching hers across the kitchen. The sizzle of oil splattered her fingers. Quickly wetting a towel, she pressed it to her knuckles.

"Mom?" Henry appeared in the doorway.

She sighed, looking down at her fingers before she lifted her gaze to meet that of her son. She smiled. "Yes, Henry. You and Miss Swan can play." 

* * *

After dinner, Henry and Emma washed the dishes. "Go upstairs and do your homework, kid," Emma said as she dried the last dish and he put it away in the proper cabinet. She noted the serving platter went in a low cabinet to the right of the stove. She was trying to memorize where things went a little at a time.

She hugged and kissed Henry. "Are you going to talk with Mom?" he asked.

"There's a lot to talk about," she reminded him. "And I don't want you eavesdropping, all right?"

"Okay," he answered, sounding dejected. That told her that had been exactly his plan.

"Good night, kid." She shook her head, but smiled and pushed at his shoulders.

While wiping down the counters, she heard Henry enter his mother's study, which apparently shared a wall with the kitchen. Their voices were a low murmur, but hearing the closeness of mother and son warmed Emma's heart. She redoubled her efforts to see the kitchen spotless.

A lifetime of impermanence had taught Emma to find ways to make herself useful, give people reasons to let her stick around. While Regina had agreed to let Emma move in and help with the pregnancy, Emma was slowly feeling caught in a wish-cycle. They were not a couple, and the emotional baggage between the two of them could fill a cargo jet. But it was there all the same each time Emma looked at Regina. Beyond simply getting a thank you for the tip about ginger ale or holding Regina's hand while she was examined by Whale, Emma wanted to kiss the brunette, and be kissed in return.

She'd ventured a kiss, to Regina's temple, when the woman had curled into her for comfort after throwing up. That moment had been over far too quickly when the brunette pulled away upon hearing George arrive. If there was anything Emma understood about Regina it was appearances were important. But kissing Regina in comfort was one thing. What Emma really wanted was to revive the passion they'd discovered aboard the Jolly Roger. She wanted to breathe in Regina's arousal and share the something that night had hinted might be possible: love.

Throughout Neverland, especially after finding out about Regina's pregnancy, Emma had been torn between worrying about Henry, worrying about Regina, fending off Hook, dealing with Pan's trickery, and feeling beaten up by her mother's wish for another child.

"Miss Swan, I believe the counters are clean."

Emma turned to see Regina standing in the doorway. "Hey," she said. She tossed the cloth over the faucet to dry. She glanced toward the ceiling. "Henry in his room?"

Regina nodded. "He's finishing some homework. I cannot believe they would make him make up everything from the two weeks," she said. "I told him one additional assignment, then he was to go to sleep."

"Do you want to talk to the school?" Emma briefly envisioned walking into the school with Regina at her side and demanding a parent-teacher conference. The "togetherness" of it, the "united front" of it, fired a heady pride in her.

"Actually, I wanted to talk to you," Regina said.

Resting her gaze on Regina, Emma asked, "Yeah?"

Regina put her hand to her abdomen. "Yes, dear." Emma's stomach fluttered, too. "Join me in the study for a drink?"

"Sounds nice, but you can't drink," Emma said. "I definitely remember no alcohol as a rule."

Regina stepped past Emma and the slight rush from the brush of their bodies made Emma's body throb. Apparently oblivious, Regina opened the refrigerator. "I was going to have some orange juice, actually." She pulled out a carafe of what appeared to be fresh-squeezed orange juice.

Emma chuckled. "All right."

_Maybe this will work after all._

* * *

Regina's fingers tingled as she reached for the doorknob to open the study. It was not the tingle of her magic. It was better. Emma was a step behind as Regina pushed the door inward. The warmth of their bodies instantly recalled to her mind their night aboard the Jolly Roger.

Taking a fortifying sip of her drink, Regina felt the orange juice firing her synapses. Emma walked to the far side of the room, by the window. Regina saw the blonde's body outlined in a lavender glow. Her gaze drifted down Emma's hair and over a light green blouse, pale in comparison to the particular shade of Emma's eyes. Her gaze hesitated on the blonde's waist, where the blouse tucked into a well-worn pair of skinny jeans. Moving her glass to her other hand, Regina closed her palm, capturing the tingling feeling.

"So." Emma turned arresting Regina with those green eyes she found incalculably fascinating. "What did you want to discuss?"

"The computer," she said, nodding toward the desk. "Figuring out dinner was... complicated."

Emma smiled and set her glass down. "Well, then let's make it easier."

"We can't both sit in the chair," Regina said. "I'll bring the laptop to the sofa. Make yourself comfortable."

Nodding, Emma collected her glass, moving to one end of the white sofa, where she placed the tumbler on the end table after moving a coaster underneath. Coming from the desk with the laptop, Regina paused at the tantalizing sight of Emma's jeans stretched tight across her rear as the blonde bent forward over the arm of the sofa.

Emma turned and settled onto the cushion. She reached up, taking the laptop with one hand while smoothing her hand over the empty leather cushion before Regina sat down next to her.

The cushion invited her to relax her posture. Regina leaned into Emma as they both shifted to look at the laptop balanced on their knees, which were touching. The blonde had a compelling scent and Regina inhaled and exhaled the light mix of sweat and leather. If it was a perfume, Regina had never smelled its like before. It didn't smell like stables or horses, but put her in mind of both. It wasn't a tangy sweat, and it brought Regina incredible peace. She glanced sideways to see Emma in profile, the green eyes darting over the screen.

"You got a password," Emma said.

"Oh, yes." Reaching across Emma's hands, Regina set her fingers on the home key row and her fingers flew rapidly.

"Not going to share?" Emma said. The quirk of her lips made Regina's stomach flutter.

"I think not." Regina's throat heated the longer Emma's smile lingered on her face. She pulled her hands back and tucked them together in her own lap.

"It's some form of Henry's birthdate, right?" Emma guessed. Regina's face flamed. Emma's chuckle became a full-throated laugh. "I know you, Mills."

Regina felt the heat in her face recede and relaxed further while she watched Emma queue several results on internet browser tabs. She likely could have done this research herself, but she admitted to pleasure in sitting with someone to talk about it.

Emma's voice briefly disrupted the click of keys. "Do you prefer videos, or reading material?"

"Perhaps a video to start. Then bookmark items for us to read later?"

The screen suddenly blacked out and a spiraling arrow appeared in the middle. Regina leaned closer. Emma leaned back, one hand hovering over the space bar, but her other arm stretched across the back of the sofa not quite touching Regina's shoulders.

A time-lapse video showed them a baby's growth through all nine months, stills and sonogram footage fluidly fading in and out to lullaby background music while a woman narrated. Emma paused the video and adjusted a setting.

"Closed captioning," she explained. "The sound track is nice but…I can't hear always hear the narrator."

Regina nodded, but said nothing. Her gaze was riveted to the screen. She rested her palms on her stomach, trying to comprehend _that _was inside her right now. "It looks like a newborn rat I saw once in the stables as a child. Hairless, shapeless, helpless little thing."

"She may not look like much," Emma said. "But she's got a brain, spinal cord, and heart."

Regina reached over Emma's hand so that they pressed down on the space bar together. The video continued. The animation showed the spine lengthening, legs and arms sprouting like tree limbs. The head became more recognizable with eyes, a mouth, nostrils. Inside the chest, on the side nearest the placenta, thumped a beating heart. Regina found her fingers pressing down on the space bar. Emma's fingers lay lightly atop hers. The frame froze. The caption read "8 weeks."

Though only in her fifth week, Regina filled with awe being able to see what was coming. She traced the shape on the screen. "That's incredible."

"Yeah, yeah, it is." Emma's voice hitched; Regina glanced to the side to see Emma wiping her face.

"Is this hard for you?" Regina asked. Emma's experience of pregnancy would be helpful to settle Regina's nerves, but if viewing this upset her... "Your experience with Henry…" _was different, was troubled, was difficult._ She thought all these things, but didn't speak them because she didn't want to hurt Emma further.

"No, no." Emma sat up. "It's… actually, I'm not thinking about _my_ pregnancy at all right now."

Emma sounded short of breath, something clogging her her chest. When she pulled away, Regina felt a bolt of alarm. Emma, however, used one hand to wipe again at her face. With the other she set the laptop aside on the table. Then, hands empty, she turned to face Regina.

Regina was swept up in a radiant smile, caught by a watery laugh, and then her face was cupped by shaking hands. "Emma," she started with uncertainty. Then she was captivated by the watery shine in green eyes.

Emma's voice choked as she whispered, "Right now, god, Regina..." Emma's husky voice rasped against Regina's lips. "I'm thinking about the miracle that is _you_ carrying _our _baby girl."

Emma's lips sealed to Regina's in a sweet, sweet tender caress and lingered. Happiness swelled like balloons filling Regina's stomach and chest. Lifting her hands to Emma's face, she returned the kiss. _This is a miracle_, she agreed.

One kiss became several. Emma's hands slid down Regina's cheeks, over her chin, down her chest, and spread wide across Regina's waist, holding her hips. Warm thumbs circled across her abdomen. In response to the swelling tingles, Regina kissed Emma harder. Emma's lips drifted from Regina's lips to her cheek, to her throat, and finally to her ear where Regina heard the blonde's pleased hum. Regina pressed closer to the blonde's body, her skin and stomach throbbing with need.

Finally, they parted for air. Emma's fair skin was flushed; Regina felt hot everywhere. Intoxicated. Emma's green eyes had darkened, the pupils widened, narrowing the green to a thin ring.

"Emma." Regina swallowed. She wanted to keep kissing. "Do you know...?" Tenderly she cupped Emma's cheeks in her palms. Desire flooded her to be wrapped up in this woman again, so close. _She wanted to know…_

"How safe is sex?" Emma's voice mingled with her own, their question exactly the same.

Regina laughed; Emma grabbed for the laptop again. "Let's find out."

###


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _M rated content begins now. Swan Queen sexy times._

The advice Emma and Regina found was simple: "Unless it hurts, most sex is fine."

Stripping off clothes and inhibitions, quickly Regina lay naked and entwined with Emma on the sofa. Emma's eyes were bright green, awe and wonder darkening them to reveal a desire which sent tingles throughout Regina's entire body. The blonde moved and tugged Regina above her as she reclined back on the sofa cushions. Hands wantonly kneaded flesh and heated murmurs filled Regina's ears.

She moved against Emma's soft body with all the relief of a homecoming. "Slow," Emma murmured. Regina agreed this time needed to be different.

Aboard the Jolly Roger, in a panic over their son's fate, sex had been fear- and anxiety-driven, frantic. Their touches now were the opposite: an intimate slow dance of exploration. Fingers tantalized and teased. Grips were sudden expressions, quickly released, followed by kisses that were tangles of lips and tongues. They sought other tastes. There were pauses, questions banked in green and brown eyes, answered with sensual smiles. Something deeper and unvoiced melded their bodies together.

Humming and moaning her pleasure, Regina rocked her hips and rubbed her center against Emma's. She luxuriated in the sensations of their wetness mingling and the hairs on their sex tangling and untangling. Heat, and wet, and oh, god, so warm.

Emma caressed her hips and belly. Regina thought about the baby within her, Emma's baby. Created with their magic. She felt a swelling up of energies twining with Emma's. The blonde pressed kisses to her abdomen. Their union of magic set off more heat waves through Regina's body. A tongue dabbled in her belly button and she quivered. Emma pulled and squeezed on her nipples and breasts tugging pleased gasps from Regina's lips.

"Regina," Emma growled softly and the sound made Regina's insides quiver. Pulled down by her shoulders until her nipples brushed Emma's face, Regina felt Emma's kisses against the skin between her breasts. Over her heart, thrumming with so, so much. Emma's throaty hums of pleasure tickled Regina's skin. She felt more alive than ever before.

When Emma's lips pulled at a nipple and sucked at the taut peak, Regina gripped Emma's head and tightened her fingers in thick curls. She cried out as sensation swelled then swamped her, leaving her shaking. "Oh! Emma!"

Strong arms hooked around Regina's thighs and lifted her up. "Hold on," Emma husked just before her mouth covered Regina's center and her tongue pushed strongly into still quaking flesh.

Regina's grip tightened in Emma's hair until she was certain she might pull out chunks. The blonde only growled and increased the pace of her tongue. Regina released Emma's head and reached instead for the back of the sofa.

"Mmm hmm," Emma hummed inside, and Regina felt her entire lower body convulse. Lapping at Regina's folds, Emma's hungry noises caused Regina to laugh until the woman's tongue danced over her clit.

So hard, so sensitive, so perfect. Regina cried out again. "Em..." The sound ended before she could finish the blonde's name. She could only incoherently groan.

Holding tightly onto Regina's thighs, Emma lapped and sucked. The sounds were tantalizingly audible even over Regina's gasps and moans. Emma unwrapped one arm from around Regina's thighs and soon Regina was being bucked as Emma writhed.

Glancing down, Regina saw Emma's fingers delving between her own legs. Green eyes snapped open when Regina reached back and grasped Emma's wrist. "Oh, no, my dear."

"But I-"

Regina lifted herself off Emma. "My turn," she whispered against Emma's mouth.

Emma shifted and sat up when Regina slid to the floor on her knees. "You don't have to."

"Oh, my dear, I must, I absolutely mus…" Her voice trailed off and she licked her lips while parting Emma's thighs.

Emma groaned. "Fuck, that's hot," she murmured. "_You_ are _so _hot," she added, caressing Regina's exposed cheek while the other pressed to Emma's inner thigh.

Feeling Emma's fingers lingering in the disheveled locks of her hair around her ear, Regina smiled. She would swear she could feel the wash of Emma's adoration like a blanket around her shoulders, a cup of coffee warming her belly, or laying beside a fireplace. It was satiating even while it was stimulating.

Circling her finger around Emma's clit, Regina met Emma's gaze and teased, "Just how _hot_ do I make you... Em-ma?" The blonde formed her free hand into a fist as she resisted being swamped by the sensations Regina triumphantly saw she caused. "It is rather warm down here," Regina added. "Are you fevered?" she asked.

"Please," Emma husked. And oh what that sound did to Regina, hearing the blonde's arousal. "Please. Go inside."

Regina's circling finger dipped inside Emma, the intimate caress causing the blonde to drop her head back against the sofa cushions and groan. Now both of the woman's hands fisted against her knees. Regina took one hand and kissed the knuckles. With the fingers of her other hand, she pressed knuckle deep inside Emma. The blonde's orgasm was so close. Her walls were already pulsing when Regina stroked them.

"Regi…" Emma sighed, unable to finish Regina's name. Regina slid her one finger out, and used two on the return stroke. "Ngg."

Smiling, Regina leaned forward. Emma's core bathed her face with warmth. Wetness glistened on all her folds. Regina's mouth watered and she had to swallow. She licked her lips again and then licked lightly at Emma's swollen clit. The blonde's channel deliciously tightened; Regina twisted her two fingers and pushed deeper.

"Oh. So. Fu … Go - ah…" Emma's hips started to roll and rise to fully receive Regina's slow thrusts. "Ya - ah," Emma murmured. "Need. You," Emma's words were breathless.

The woman tasted even better than Regina remembered. Pregnancy seemed to make her more aware of the subtleties of tastes and aromas. Absolutely everything about Emma tasted divine. The blonde tasted tart and savory, with an earthy aroma that, simply put, made Regina feel like she would never drink enough of it.

"Your taste is the finest vintage, my dear." Regina hummed into the swollen, soaked flesh. Emma cried out; her orgasm squeezed Regina's fingers and held them tight. "Yes," Regina said, licking up the glistening liquid that slipped onto her knuckles when she spread her fingers and twisted.

Emma's hands shook against Regina's hair. "I need you," she whispered.

Regina withdrew her fingers, rose from the floor, and returned to Emma's lap. The blonde's strong arms pulled her closer. She nuzzled Emma's ear, delighted by the other woman's shivers. Broad hands softly moved against Regina's belly and she shivered herself.

"Are you cold?" Emma asked.

"I thought I was _so_ hot," Regina teased. Emma's smile was a bit lopsided which made Regina preen a little. But after another shiver from Emma, Regina said, "I'll fetch a blanket."

When she tried to move though, warm hands tightened and firmly held her in place. "Nuh uh," Emma murmured. "Stay."

"Just fetching a blanket, dear." She kissed Emma's cheek just below her fluttering lashes.

"Mmm 'k."

Regina hurried back with the blanket from the back of reading chair in the corner. A minute of rearranging themselves, and Regina was back on Emma's lap, this time they pressed together under a soft wool blanket. She inhaled and closed her eyes, letting her nose swim in the combined scent of their sex.

"This is beautiful."

She opened her eyes to see Emma tracing the brown and gold chevrons in the crocheted blanket. "For cold nights when I first adopted Henry," Regina explained, now tracing the pattern, too, and meeting Emma's fingers time and again. "I'd sit in the chair and rock him for hours and sing lullabies while we listened to the snow falling outside." She had a sudden second sight of a white blanket, purple threads spelling out the name 'Emma'.

"Every baby needs something that is specially theirs," she murmured, not sure why but offering the comforting thought to Emma nonetheless.

Emma's fingers twined with Regina's. "I am so glad you got Henry," Emma murmured. "I don't care if it was a plot, or a plan. I had hoped he would find someone to love him forever. And he did."

"I do," Regina said. "I thought I would never feel love again. When he looked at me, big brown eyes filled with curiosity, it was terrifying, but it was also the most _right_ feeling in the world."

"In Neverland, you told me you thought about giving Henry up when you realized he was the son of the Savior."

"Not my proudest moment," she admitted. "I shouldn't have let fear control me. But magic had been a solution before. So I went with it again."

"Magic problems. Magic solutions. Magic babies," Emma finished, brushing her fingertips against Regina's stomach.

The tingles were there, but Regina was feeling more emotional than aroused and focused instead on Emma's words. At the moment her only desire was to understand this woman. It was becoming clear Emma had suffered just as eventful a life as Regina herself.

"Jefferson said that people want their problems magically solved, only they refuse to believe in magic."

"Astute... for a madman," Regina agreed.

"I had a hell of a lot of problems growing up. But I think it's best that I didn't have magic to try to solve them. So many placements were just emotional dead ends." Emma sighed. "I can't recall feeling like more than anyone's meal ticket. No wonder I had sex with the first guy who smiled at me."

"My mother saw me as her ticket to power," Regina said. "She took care of me insofar as it put her in good light to others."

"That's when I think I really got you for the first time - meeting your mother in the Enchanted Forest."

"You looked at me so differently afterward?"

"Oh yeah," Emma said emphatically. "I'd always been insanely turned on by your power kicks and how fiercely you loved Henry. But when I realized that you were all that _in spite of _your mother, it gave me... hope that I was okay despite not being what my mother wanted."

"You can be _exactly_ like your mother at times," Regina said, cupping Emma's cheek, feeling only surprised amusement as she recounted those pain-filled earliest days of Henry's birth mother arriving in town. But then Emma had gradually transformed Regina's outlook not just her life. "When you first arrived, you fighting me at every turn was _beyond _aggravating." Emma laughed. "It was exhilarating, too. I don't know what I would have done had you actually rolled over and become my obedient puppy."

"No," Emma agreed. "You had Graham for that."

The blonde had said the words without rancor; Regina nodded solemnly. "Which didn't make me happy."

Emma fell quiet. Regina closed her eyes and let the warm places where their naked bodies pressed together fill and lull her senses.

When Emma finally broke the silence, her tone was soft and sounded just a little uncertain. "Are you happy now?"

She put her fingers to Emma's chin and pushed up gently so the other woman's gaze met hers. "Yes," she said sincerely. "I am."

* * *

When they had both dressed, Emma walked with Regina upstairs. Beside the master bedroom door they kissed leisurely. A hand already on the knob, Regina looked over her shoulder and invited, "Stay with me."

Emma appreciated the thought, but she shook her head. "Let's take it slow."

"Regretting what we've done?" Regina asked, brushing her fingers across Emma's lips.

After kissing Regina's fingers, Emma shook her head. "No. And I'd like to keep it that way. Not do everything at once. There's no need. You're not a one-night stand to me, Regina."

Placing her palm against the open collar of Emma's blouse, Regina felt the blonde's steady, strong heartbeat. "Thank you." she said. The words were inadequate, but deeply felt.

Emma's hand covered Regina's and her green eyes crinkled at the corners. "Good night." Emma brushed a lock of Regina's hair behind her ear.

Regina leaned into the pleasantly tingling sensations. "In the morning..." she stopped before she could ask.

"I'll be here," Emma promised. The words accompanied a smile and the green in her eyes sparkled.

Regina felt a giddiness which hadn't been her companion since girlhood and heat rose in her cheeks. She pushed open her bedroom door. Emma's palm slipped from her cheek. Stepping into her room, Regina pressed the door shut. Resting her forehead on the wood, eyes closed, she listened to the sounds of Emma's footfalls crossing the corridor to the guest room. The hinges slightly squeaked when the guest bedroom's door was opened, then closed. She continued to follow the faint sounds of the blonde readying herself for bed.

Finally, Regina closed her eyes, as she felt Emma do the same... Feeling safe. Secure.

Home.

To stay.

###


	9. Chapter 9

It was barely sunrise when Regina emerged from her bedroom, quietly shutting her door before pulling her robe close and turning around. Her eyes widened. She had thought the early hour too early for Emma. However, the blonde was currently walking up the stairs in a tan leather jacket thicker than her red one, over a blue button-down shirt tucked into her belted jeans. The physicality and strength inherent in Emma's frame made Regina immediately want those arms around her.

"Em-" Reaching the top of the staircase Emma's lips cut off whatever Regina thought to say. Inside her slippers, Regina's toes curled and she hummed deep in her throat.

When Emma released Regina, she held out a fist full of stemmed flowers. "These are for you." The collection of gladiolas, antique cream roses, heather seemed very familiar…

"They _are_ mine," Regina acknowledged dryly.

Emma laughed and the sound made any pique Regina felt instantly dissipate. "It should be the thought that counts. Moe French's shop isn't open for a few hours yet."

"You don't have to buy me flowers," Regina objected.

Emma took the flowers from her. "Good thing I didn't buy them, isn't it?" Regina chuckled. Emma kissed her again, before taking a step back and returning the flowers. She walked down the staircase a step ahead of Regina. "What's the plan today?"

"As long as my stomach cooperates, I should probably get some work done at the office."

Regina sorted through the refrigerator, collecting items for Henry's breakfast, and ingredients for a stew she decided would be good to put in the slow cooker for tonight's dinner. Without prompting, Emma poured three juices then nudged one glass toward Regina while she cut up the dinner items.

"Will you be here for dinner?" Regina asked.

"If you want," Emma said, her tone a question.

_Of course_, Regina thought, _Emma would never presume_. Even after their evening together. A flutter in Regina's stomach made her aware she no longer had energy to deny her own feelings. She turned to catch Emma's gaze so there'd be no misunderstanding. "I want."

Emma's cheeks turning red made Regina smile.

"All right." Emma glanced at her watch. "I should probably spend the day on rounds with Dad which means I should leave now," Emma said. She started to turn away and then turned back. "If I'm not wrangling Mrs. Potter's cat out of a tree, would you like to have lunch together?"

Emma really was committed to dating her, Regina realized. She nodded. "Ye-es," she managed, around the clog in her throat.

"Great," Emma said. She leaned forward. After checking with a gaze that darted between Regina's eyes, and a short permissive nod of Regina's head, Emma pressed her lips tenderly to the corner of Regina's mouth. Emma then stepped back and smiled. "I'll text when I can get to city hall. Ask what you're in the mood for."

Stomach fluttering pleasantly, Regina nodded. "I'll make certain my calendar is clear."

* * *

Emma pulled off her gloves, unzipped her jacket, and pulled off her wool beanie after entering the building. Spring had definitely blown in, the winds were high and had chilled the temps to make for a frosty morning. Once inside the double-glass doors of the Sheriff's office space, she looked up to see her father leaning over Leroy, aka Grumpy, at the radio.

Walking up, she spoke to their backs. "Good morning, Dad, Leroy. What's up?"

Her father David straightened, turned, and wrapped her up in a hug. "Hey, sweetheart." He kissed her temple and pulled back, dropping his hands. "We dispatched the cutter to motor out to a foundering lobster boat that ran aground."

"Injuries?" Emma asked.

Leroy, who had a radio mic in his hand, answered. "According to the captain, they're taking on water through a sizeable gash, but his crew are all accounted for."

Emma pondered. "Did they get blown around in the wind? How'd they run aground?"

David said, "According to the captain they were normally positioned in the channel this morning before dawn and headed toward the open sea. The water level dropped suddenly, rose fast, and shoved them sideways."

"I'm no maritime expert, but that's not usual tide movement, is it?"

"Beats me," Leroy said.

David suggested, "If Hook hasn't left yet, he could give us a hand."

Emma bit her tongue on the words that immediately formed in her mind, sounding remarkably like Regina: _Of course. He only has one_. Emma smiled as she envisioned the brunette's accompanying eye-roll. Firmly reining in her lips attempt to twitch with humor, Emma finally answered her father. "Okay, we'll ride out to the docks. Maybe Killian or one of his men saw what happened."

David patted Leroy on the shoulder. "Keep on the radio. Update us in the cruiser."

"Will do."

"Let's go." Emma pulled her beanie back on, zipped up her jacket. Grabbing a set of cruiser keys from the wall box, she led the way. David followed quickly, grabbing his own coat off the rack by the door.

"You want me to drive?" David said.

"I got it." Emma's response matched her actions, dropping quickly into the driver seat of a department cruiser. She had the engine on and the heat started by the time her father moved around to the passenger side and belted in.

As the cruiser passed in front of Granny's on Main Street, Henry waved, holding his mother's hand as they exited the diner. Emma caught Regina's questioning look as the cruiser continued without slowing. Her cellphone in her coat pocket rang a second later.

"Yes, Regina?" Emma answered.

"Anything I should know about, Sheriff?"

"Lobster boat hit the shoals in the harbor."

"Anyone hurt?"

Emma smiled, hearing the concern in the brunette's voice. "Not as far as we know."

"Keep me apprised."

"Will do, Madam Mayor." _I love you_, Emma thought.

"Thank you." _I love you, too_, Emma heard from the woman's tone. _Wait a minute_...

"That wasn't…" Emma trailed off and shook her head. Though she heard Regina draw in a breath, Emma ended the call. They'd reached the harbor. "We're here," she said to her father.

David didn't immediately get out. "Something wrong with you and Regina?" he asked.

"No, why?"

"That was an awfully business-like tone you used. I couldn't hear her side…" He trailed off.

"No, actually it was… it's fine. As mayor she wanted to know where the police were headed. I told her."

"All right." He got out of the car. Emma stayed inside, staring a moment at his back.

"Dad?"

"Yes?" He started to lean back in.

"Are you okay with… with Regina and me?"

His green gaze held hers as he asked, "Are you happy?"

Emma's smile came quickly with thoughts of the previous night. "Yeah, yeah, I am."

"All right then."

Getting out of the car, Emma looked at her father across the top of the vehicle. "Thanks, Dad."

"No need to thank me, Emma." He closed his door as she did the same. "Let's go see what we can do to help."

* * *

Henry walked alongside his mom on the sidewalk, his head ducked against the wind and hunched with his hands in his pockets. "Boy it's cold," he murmured.

Abruptly he no longer felt the wind. He looked up just in time to see his mother lowering her hand.

"Did you really just…?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"I happen to agree with you."

"But…"

"Do you really want the wind back? I appreciate that you no longer hunch like Quasimodo, dear."

Straightening even more, Henry laughed. "I love you, Mom."

Her fingers twitched against his where they gripped. "I love you, too, Henry."

"You're really happy, aren't you, Mom?"

"I am. I have you back safe."

"It's more than that. You… glow a bit," he said.

"According to the research that's because my blood pressure has increased a little, more blood flowing to the baby."

Henry glanced down to her stomach. "You and Emma did research after I went to bed last night?"

His mother's face flushed more deeply red, becoming really apparent on her dark skin. "Yes, we did. We want to do things right."

They had stopped at the end of the walk up to the school. Henry looked up at his mom and reached out to take her hand again. "I'm glad you're happy, Mom."

"Thank you, Henry." She cupped his cheek and kissed his hair. When she stepped back, he felt the wind against him once more. She'd removed the spell. "Have a good day."

"Meet at Granny's after school?" he asked.

"The office today. I have to get _some_ work done."

"All right. Love you, Mom."

Her brown eyes filled with her smile. "I love you, Henry, so much. Have a good day."

Henry turned and ran to join Grace who had just passed on the walk up to school.

* * *

Emma frowned. The lobster boat was within view, but the shoal area where it had gone aground was too rocky for the police cutter or other boats to get close enough to ferry off the crew. They'd already looked up and down the pier, and it seemed the Jolly Roger had departed during the night. No one recalled seeing Killian since he'd left a bar nearby after "last call" around 2:00 a.m. Everyone David talked to assumed he'd headed for his ship. And they hadn't been able to locate Smee, or any of Hook's other crew in a search of the nearby lodgings.

She was wondering if the two events were somehow connected. According to the information relayed by Leroy the grounded ship had started out during the dark pre-dawn hours around 4:00 a.m. "Could a portal have caused the wave motion?" she asked aloud.

Next to her, David shrugged. "Possibly, but we came flying back in on the Pan-powered sail, right? No one has any beans."

"Maybe Killian had a bean he didn't tell us about." _Or he could have stolen one_. "Weren't you and mom working on growing beans before we left for Neverland?"

"Yeah, Regina stole one then burned Tiny's field, remember?"

Emma recalled, "We used that bean to go after Tamara and Greg when they took Henry."

"Right."

"Maybe the field wasn't fully burned."

"I can check it out," David agreed, "but that still doesn't tell us how to get the lobster boat or her crew back to shore."

Emma sighed. "Yeah."

Her phone signaled a text message. Pulling it from her pocket she read silently then put the device back in her pocket.

"Something wrong?" David asked.

"What?"

"You read the message then frowned."

"Regina sent me her lunch request."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, I'm taking her lunch at City Hall."

David glanced at his watch. "It's almost eleven now."

"It is?"

"Time flies when you're having fun," he said.

"This is more frustration than fun," Emma said. She pulled out her phone and texted Regina: _Sorry, lunch is going to be a little delayed. The situation at the docks is still a mess._

No sooner had Emma tucked her phone back in her pocket than the air in front of her and behind David, was filled with lavender smoke. Regina appeared facing her and spoke as soon as she materialized. "What's the problem?"

David walked forward a few steps and turned around. Emma shook her head then explained, "You didn't have to come out. There's a grounded boat on the shoals. We can't get another boat close enough to get the crew off."

"Why not just bring the boat back to the pier?"

"We can't get close enough," Emma repeated.

"Magic, dear," Regina replied. She lifted her hands.

"Stop." Emma stepped forward and grasped her gloved fingers. "You should be taking it easy."

"This is an easy spell."

"Then teach me how to do it," Emma suggested.

Regina sighed, but she put down her hands. "Okay. Picture the boat tied alongside the pier."

Emma lifted her hand toward the harbor waters. "Just as simple as that?" she asked Regina, who nodded. Closing her eyes, Emma concentrated.

Cacophonous creaking filled the air, at decibels loud enough she covered her ears. Behind her closed eyelids Emma saw a huge flash of light. She opened her eyes to the sudden - and even louder - sound of wood cracking and crashing and men screaming.

She had indeed managed to move the lobster boat from the shoals, but now the boat sat _on_ the pier, with its hull cracked, bow in the water on one side and stern in the water on the other side. Some of the crew had been pitched into the bay.

She and David, and all the men still around from their own boats, rushed to pull the sailors from the cold water. Someone had the forethought to call for blankets and an ambulance.

The boat vanished and reappeared cradled in a dry dock at the far end of the pier, no longer a danger, and no longer taking on water. Stumbling on the sand, Emma turned away from the sight of the boat. Regina sat primly on a bench. She flushed and grimaced. The brunette had fixed her mistake.

"Thanks for the hand," Emma said.

"I believe you would benefit from a few magic lessons following our lunch."

Emma shook her head when she heard Regina's most polite "I told you so" ever. "Yes, ma'am." She looked around and called out to David, "Dad, I'm going with Regina. I'll leave the keys to the cruiser on the seat."

Her father smiled at her, too busy helping someone to wave. Emma walked over to the bench, Regina grasped her arm, and they vanished in a cloud of Regina's magic.

* * *

Regina reached for the door of the stairwell where she had materialized them, only for Emma to reach past her and put her palm and weight behind holding the door closed. "What?" Regina asked, looking up into Emma's gaze as she came closer.

"Before we go out there, I do have something to say to you, Madam Mayor."

Emma kissed her lips, soft and steady. Regina resisted reacting for as long as she could, wanting to hold onto her exasperation regarding Emma's haphazard magic, but desire slid up her chest, coming through her throat as a hum and then she moaned. Grasping the zippered sides of Emma's jacket, she fervently returned the kiss. Emma smiled into her mouth and Regina reveled in the emotions flowing between them and the press of the blonde's body against hers and the steel of the door at her back, feeling secure... even as her body felt light and hot as air in a traveling balloon.

When the kiss ended, Regina breathed in deeply. "Was that all?"

"All I can do in a stairwell. I would happily take this back to your place," Emma murmured. The hum of the blonde's voice against Regina's ear sent more waves of excitement through Regina's body. "But you said something about lunch."

Emma pulled out her cellphone and pressed a couple buttons. "Storybrooke dispatch," came through the speaker.

"Sheriff Swan here. Since we had all that excitement this morning, I'm going to take the afternoon." She hummed; Regina's belly quivered in reaction.

Regina lifted her eyebrow. Emma raised both of hers in reply. Regina's chest and face warmed and she knew she was blushing. She fumbled her own phone from her pocket. Pointedly, she huffed, ignoring Emma's smirk as the blonde watched her press out the number.

"Jeremy," Regina said. "I'm taking lunch out. Please cancel my afternoon."

"Yes, Madam Mayor," her assistant replied.

She closed the call and replaced her phone in her pocket.

"I think I'm properly motivated to get my magic right this time," Emma said.

"At least I'm here should we end up in my tree," Regina said.

With a smirk, Emma grasped her hand. Regina closed her eyes, trying not to let a smirk play on her own lips at the sight of Emma's flushed and aroused face. The tingle of the blonde's magic sent more heat through Regina's body.

Regina still cupped her abdomen to savor both warm comfort and sharp arousal when she felt Emma solidly behind her, arms cradling her against her chest and nuzzling Regina's throat. Warm hands covered hers and massaged. Regina opened her eyes to find they had safely rematerialized in the foyer of her home. The mirror by the entry reflected them pressed tightly together.

"Damn stuff is its own aphrodisiac," Emma muttered.

Regina agreed. The warm energy of Emma's magic radiated outward from Regina's stomach, making her nipples and groin tingle and throb, demanding to be touched. She kept Emma's hands from slipping inside her pants, though the woman had managed already to undo her thin belt.

"Your magic is very powerful. All the more reason," Regina said, taking deep breaths as she slowly disengaged from Emma's hold. "All the more reason for you to dedicate yourself to learning to control it."

She turned fully to find Emma had stepped back, hands behind her back, but the hunger for Regina glittered in her green eyes. The blonde licked her tongue across her own pale lips.

Regina felt a twitch so sharply in her abdomen that she quickly clapped her fingers over Emma's mouth. "Stop that."

"Not doing anything."

"Well, your magic baby is doing a dance inside me then."

"Too early," Emma said. "Maybe you're just turned on by thoughts of me ravishing you. We should go upstairs so I can do exactly that."

Regina chuckled. "I am rather hungry for lunch though. I need to eat for two after all."

Emma's green eyes glittered and Regina was once again swept up, this time for a breath-stealing kiss. When she was let go, Emma followed her to the kitchen.

After checking the stew she'd set up that morning continued to happily cook, Regina cut up a variety of cheeses and olives. Emma helped, cutting tomatoes and sweet peppers. Once all had been added to a bed of arugula, spinach, and romaine, Regina tossed it together with an apple vinaigrette (though she sniffed it first to assure it would not turn her stomach).

"You've felt pretty good all day," Emma said. "Maybe sex is a way to prevent morning sickness." The blonde sounded teasing, loving, and cocky.

Regina leaned across the salad bowl and pressed her lips to Emma's. "I will certainly take that under advisement, _Doctor Swan_." Collecting bowls from a cabinet and forks from a drawer, Regina served herself a small salad and passed the tongs to Emma. "Take however much you'd like."

The blonde looked at Regina's serving, then the remains in the bowl. The deep consideration said to Regina: _I don't want to take too much in case she's still hungry_.

"I meant it, Emma. I'm fine."

"I didn't say anything."

"But you were thinking I might want more."

"I was," Emma agreed. "Exactly that." She served her salad but remained deeply in thought. "Earlier today when you called me to find out what was going on, did you-?" Emma cut herself off and shook her head.

"What, Emma? I was concerned you were headed into a dangerous situation."

"I felt your care in your words, but…" Emma frowned. "I thought I _heard_ your thoughts too. And just now –"

"I can read you very well, my dear. I always have. Your every thought shows on your face."

"Yeah, I suppose." Emma shrugged.

They stood side by side at the table, eating, shoulders occasionally brushing. Both women felt their peace increase with every bite and quiet breath.

_This is really nice._

_I agree. _Wide eyed, Emma turned to find Regina's own eyes wide.

"I could be wrong," Regina said, filled with shock. She glanced down at her stomach. Emma's hand brushed hers on her waistline. She felt as though her insides fluttered the slightest bit at Emma's touch in a way that was different from feeling aroused. "I think we need to do some more research."

"On the internet?"

"In my magic books."

###


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _This chapter has some playtime between our ladies and some sweet, poignant moments too. I hope you enjoy. ~ LZ_

The need to feel closer intensified as Emma followed Regina to her study. With a swallow, she watched the brunette wave her hand over the grips of what appeared to be an elaborate wood cabinet. There were no visible locks.

"How'd you lock it?" Emma asked, even as Regina opened the left of the pair of doors and withdrew a leather-bound book that had gold filigree lettering.

"It's not a blood lock. The idea was to keep it from my mother – and me – should she coerce me to reclaim it."

"So how did you unlock it just now?" Emma asked. "If it's a simple spell, just anyone could have opened it. Hen—"

"Emma," Regina interrupted her, holding the book in her hands, "if I didn't think I was carrying your child, I'd know it now."

The implication was clear. "You made a lock with _my_ blood magic?" After a moment of thoughtful silence, Emma asked simply, "How?"

Regina sat down on the sofa. When Emma sat beside her, Regina pulled her hands onto her lap. The sense of comfort was immediate for them both. Emma felt Regina's feelings, a wry sort of frustration and relief. "When I put the book away it was to fulfill Henry's request that I not use magic again. When I hugged him before sending him away from Cora's reach, I took one of his hairs. He's your son." Regina laughed sadly. "I was desperate. My mother was back, I had to leave my most powerful defensive option out of my own reach by admitting to something I never could before – Henry is not mine."

Emma rubbed her fingers. "He _is_ yours."

Regina leaned her head against the side of Emma's own. "It's all right. Henry is _ours_." Together their hands brushed over Regina's waist. "So is she."

"Okay." Emma kissed Regina's hair and leaned back, encouraging Regina to recline fully against her as she stretched out and lifted her legs on the sofa. "So what are we looking for in the book?"

"These are only spells. There are more magic books in my vault, but there might be a spell here to explain why we are able to hear each other's thoughts."

"I figured it was just that you're carrying our child? You have a direct link to my magic."

"That would explain why _I _can hear you, but not why _you_ can hear me." Regina's eyes widened. "Unless you're pregnant?"

Their sex aboard the Jolly Roger had been fully reciprocal, Emma remembered, so the idea wasn't as preposterous as it might sound. She shook her head though. "Nope. Had my period about a week ago. Didn't you notice how I was stomping around the deck, biting everyone's head off before we went to Skull Island and got Henry?"

"You were generally anxious on Neverland. I can't recall thinking anything strange about it. Not to mention I was also distracted with my own worries."

"Yeah. Okay. Bottom line, period, so nope, not pregnant."

"All right."

Emma nuzzled Regina's nose. "So, what other ways can people gain access to each other's thoughts?"

Regina snuggled into Emma's side, opening the book on her lap. "Bridging through a natural lodestone or magical object."

"Like touching the same thing?" Emma thought about the many times she and Regina had mutually touched something. She had a thought. They'd both hugged Henry, many times, and often at the same time.

"Yes," Regina picked up on her thoughts. "But, special as our son is, probably not. The spell has to be invoked during the contact. If a magic user could so easily share their thoughts, there'd be no reason for lessons." Emma heard distaste in Regina's tone and saw the flash of Rumplestiltskin meting out a punishment - green and scaly so it had been in the Enchanted Forest. In an attempt to soothe away the upsetting thought, Emma rubbed Regina's arm.

Regina pointed to the page she had found. Emma studied it and tried to make sense of it, but the handwritten lines looked nothing like English. "No printing presses in the Forest, huh?" Emma commented wryly. Regina rolled her eyes. Sketches that looked like plants or geometric calculations were around the text. But there were also beautiful drawings illustrating the edges. She thought whatever it was called was quite pretty.

"The phrase you're looking for is 'illuminated manuscript' like the Christian bibles handwritten by centuries of monastic scribes," Regina said absently.

"I hadn't even fully formed the thought!" Emma grumbled.

"I told you, dear, your thoughts are extremely obvious."

Emma sighed. Canting her head against the pillows, she tucked her chin over Regina's shoulder and wrapped her arms around the other woman's body atop hers. "So, what's it say?"

"This is a page about… persuading... a person's thoughts."

"Mind control," Emma translated wryly.

Regina nodded and distaste was again evident in her reply. "Yes. Access to a person's thoughts is the first step to directing their will."

"Every half-assed politician knows that," Emma snorted. "You can get people to do anything once you know what they're thinking, what they value, what they want. That's why those people rely on polls."

"Yes, it is." Regina's words trailed off as she studied the page a moment longer. Abruptly she turned several pages before stopping on another. Emma distinctly heard: _Surveying, surveillance, eavesdropping_.

"Eavesdropping, yeah," Emma said, "Like bugging someone's office."

Regina raised an eyebrow. "Have you done that many times in your illustrious career, Miss Swan?" Emma felt the other woman's amusement again and the fact that 'Miss Swan' was back gave her a giddy feeling in her stomach. Their banter felt as amazing as it was comfortable.

"A few times, yeah. I bugged your office when Sidney pointed me toward the playground funds."

"I recall," Regina said. "Who do you think gave him the idea?"

Emma shook her head while hugging Regina closer and kissing her temple again. She teased, "Tracking Madam Mayor's misuse of her office… those were the simple days, huh?"

"Making you look the fool in front of the town was…delicious."

"You certainly looked the part of the cat who ate the canary," Emma admitted. She recalled the way the woman had looked lifting her chin and grinning as she told the townspeople about the other plans for the money. She'd been angry enough at the time to see red, but laced under that she could admit, _I found it pretty hot._

"Too hot for you to handle, my dear."

Emma shook her head. "We were in a different place back then. I learned a long time ago to just move on. Be better next time."

"Are you referring to yourself or to me?"

"You _are_ better than you were, Regina. You have to know that."

Regina's sigh held no discernible thought, but a lifetime of reading people made Emma gently wrap herself around the other woman's shoulders as a show of support. She and Regina were so similar, products of histories designed to make them into tools to be of use to others. "The mind meld thing," she said, part diversion for Regina's sober thoughts and part getting the answers they sought, "Could this be just from us being... well, true loves?"

"Your Charming parents have never professed to being able to read each other's minds, so it must be a combination of our magic at work here, not just your DNA, or mine, for that matter."

"So the baby's connecting us somehow?" Emma tucked her hands around Regina's midsection, gently nudging away the book and circled her fingertips. "Do you think we might hear her thoughts at some point?"

Closing her eyes and resting her head back against Emma's collarbone, Regina inhaled and exhaled. Then she swallowed and made a face. "She has decided to upset my stomach again."

"Okay. Fine. Relax. I can hold you right here for a little while." She cupped Regina's stomach and closed her eyes to focus on sending out 'relaxing vibes.'

"We only took a lunch break." Regina pushed herself upright, her discomfort easily read on her face. "I have to get back to city hall, and you have to return to the Sheriff's Office."

"You asked Jeremy to clear your afternoon," Emma recalled. "At the very least you can be...late." Then she wriggled her eyebrows suggestively and sought out Regina's skin under her blouse. She felt the moment their baby reacted to her presence so close. Snapping her gaze to Regina's face, she saw in the pursed and tightened lips that the brunette had felt it too. She lifted her hands away. "Sorry."

Regina's hands grasped Emma's. "My stomach feels full of jumping fish." She swallowed convulsively and pushed Emma's hands away. "Perhaps it's not a good idea right now."

Emma eased to the far end of the sofa as Regina sat up and moved to the other end. "Yeah, I guess." She stood up. "So. Um... Lunch?"

At the same time, Emma saw it in her mind, Regina described what she craved. "Egg rolls, deep fried, and smothered in hot mustard, dipped in sweet and sour sauce." Long fingers lifted and a platter materialized on the table next to the sofa.

Emma eyed the high piled fried goodness. "Guess there won't be any midnight runs for me to satisfy your cravings." Emma couldn't hide her disappointment, thinking "midnight runs" would have been a nice thing.

"Magic has its uses," Regina said; not quite stating _I don't need that sort of support_, but also acknowledging Emma's thoughtfulness.

Emma followed Regina's thoughts and marveled. The brunette's enhanced senses identified every individual vegetable from the vinegar-soaked cabbage, to the water chestnuts and slivered carrots. Then Regina picked up one roll in both hands. Emma gently teased, "Whoa, not even a napkin."

Regina raised one eyebrow, a censure clearly on the tip of her tongue. Emma laughed though and picked up a roll of her own.

"Relax," the blonde added. "No objections here. I love egg rolls," she said. In tandem they bit into their rolls and happy hums filled the air of the study while Regina and Emma devoured egg rolls, one after the other, in rapid succession.

While her cheeks were still puffed out from putting the last of the last egg roll in her mouth, Emma studied Regina. The brunette was stunning, dabbing her lips with a napkin and leaning back into the cushions with a dreamy, satisfied look that wasn't quite obscene, but made Emma think it would be a nice afternoon diversion if they did enjoy some time naked. But the brown eyes darkened and discontent rolled through Regina's thoughts. Then Regina rubbed her stomach.

Reading the brunette's thoughts that she was still hungry, Emma lifted her hand. A small puff of white magic appeared then dissipated, revealing a bowl of fried wontons in her hand. Taking three wontons in her fingers, she dipped the ends in Regina's sweet and sour sauce then popped them in her mouth. Chewing and swallowing she answered Regina's astonishment. "No Chinese meal is complete without them, am I right?"

Regina raised an eyebrow, but Emma had the last laugh when Regina snapped up several of the small air fried crunchy noodles which she then dipped into the sweet and sour before crunching down happily.

"Mills, you've been holding out on me," Emma said, feigning shock.

"Swan," Regina bantered back. it seemed Emma would be filling cravings after all. "Keep practicing your magic. Can you make those fried dough balls with the sugar?"

Emma lifted her hands and materialized half a dozen on a small plate. "These?" she asked, teasing it away from Regina when the brunette attempted to reach for them.

Regina huffed; Emma relented but fed the brunette the piece from her hand. Just after kissing Emma's fingers free of the residual sugar, Regina smiled into a kiss from the blonde.

"Another?" Emma asked.

Amid laughter, the two women finished their impromptu Chinese luncheon between nibbling on lips and sugar-sweet fried dough.

* * *

After lunch, Regina insisted Emma continue with magic practice. Using the connection provided by their daughter, Emma learned to center her focus and poofed after Regina in an impromptu hide and seek. They materialized in familiar places they'd been together like Regina's backyard and the mausoleum in the town cemetery. Outside Granny's, in the bushes, Regina praised, "Very good." She kissed Emma then vanished again.

Emma thought that was particularly unfair. "Hey!"

Just when Emma realized Ruby had spotted her standing in the bushes and headed for the door to talk with her, Emma heard _Come find me_ whisper through her mind.

Inhaling and exhaling to focus on Regina's mental trail, Emma closed her eyes and _poof! _When she opened them she stood in a place in Storybrooke where she hadn't been before: the stables. The scents of horses, hay, and oiled leather filled her nose. Nearby, Regina leaned on a wooden wall and stared down at a spot in the scuffed dirt floor. She hadn't turned when Emma appeared. Feeling the now familiar stirrings of her attraction to Regina Mills, Emma let her gaze follow the other woman's elegant jawline and full lips. _Beautiful,_ she thought.

In profile, the brunette's expression revealed the solemnity of her thoughts which after several hours of clear communication were right now surprisingly muddied and unclear.

"What's here?" Emma said, walking up alongside Regina before reaching out tenderly.

When her hand contacted Regina's shoulder, it was like a release. The brunette turned slowly, the sadness remained in her eyes, but there was a tiny smile too. "Hi." Emma heard the brunette's thoughts plainly. But Regina was apparently okay with speaking difficult thoughts aloud. "This is where I last saw Daniel."

Emma grasped Regina's hand, lacing their fingers to offer some steadiness and calm. "Daniel?"

"When Whale revived him. After...everything that had happened. Everything I'd done... Daniel... he just… he told me to let him go. To find love again." Regina put her hand to her mouth looking at the spot again.

Emma knew it was irrational to feel like she was competing with a dead man, but the insecurity of being set aside so often as a child still bubbled up the question. And since Regina could read her mind, she said it anyway. "Would you rather Daniel were here, not me?"

Regina grasped her hand. "That's why I brought you here. This is where we started."

"I don't understand. I've never been here."

"I'm not the same woman I was when I was in love with Daniel."

"Of course not. I'm not the same woman I was when I was with Neal."

"I wouldn't go that far," Regina replied lightly. "You do still have the same deplorable taste in clothing, and the same penchant for mischief."

"Do I?" Before Emma could say anything or try to discern any of Regina's thoughts, the brunette placed her hand on Emma's elbow.

"And I find I haven't changed as much as I thought because I'm beginning to realize I like that about you."

Regina stepped close and pressed her body against Emma's as she gripped her hands to the side and met her gaze. Determination and resolution shined from brown eyes. Emma found herself holding her breath.

"You have made me smile, Emma. Just like Daniel used to. So, just like he asked me to... I am finding love again."

"Oh." Emma brightened. She was even more pleased when Regina's lips pressed to hers. When the brunette stepped back, Emma still held her hand. "So, you're okay?"

"Yes, Emma, I'm okay." Regina moved away to the entrance to the stable. "Shall we return to work?"

Trying to decide, Emma checked her watch. "Henry just got out of school."

Regina grasped Emma's hand. "Then it seems our next stop is Storybrooke School, Miss Swan. Poof to it," she finished with a commanding tone.

Emma smiled. "Right away, Madam Mayor." She lifted her other hand, envisioned the school yard, and snapped her fingers. She was learning the snap was a flourish. Most motions accompanying magic use were nothing more than theatrics. What mattered was having a focus, a plan, and pushing or pulling on the magic ether she could finally sense all around her and using it to fulfill her will.

When they materialized on the walkway into the school, Emma felt Regina squeeze her hand. When she looked toward the brunette she saw a smile. "Well done, Emma."

She warmed under the praising smile that was showing just a touch that the whole thing turned Regina on. This love thing was pretty heady, Emma thought. Regina rolled her eyes, clearly having heard the thought. Emma moved to press closer to Regina and give them both a little physical contact to satisfy their returned and rising craving for one another.

"Moms!" Backpack bouncing against his shoulders, Henry ran toward them.

Emma turned quickly, still holding Regina's hand. "Hey, kid!"

"Hello, Henry." Despite the more sedate greeting, Emma could see and feel Regina's love for Henry just pouring out of her; the crinkle to her eyes, the wide smile, the way her fingers grabbed Emma's as if to hold herself back from grabbing him up in a hug.

But the hug was exactly what Henry wanted and he wasn't shy about going after it. Their son fell into the arms of both his mothers. Emma felt the greatness of this gift that was her family fill her chest. When he pulled out of their arms, Henry asked, "I wasn't expecting both of you. Something wrong?"

"Nope, just wanted to see our favorite kid. Maybe take him for..." She glanced at Regina then finished, "How about ice cream at Any Given Sundae?"

"Yeah!" Henry cheered.

Walking behind Henry and still holding Emma's hand, Regina leaned closer and murmured, "A milkshake would have done as well."

"You would prefer the ice cream." _So that's that_, Emma thought. _I got this_. If pregnancy gave a woman _carte blanche_ to do anything, it was to eat what she wanted, when she wanted it. Regina blushed. Emma grinned and swung Regina's hand in her own. Emma might not have any cliched midnight runs while supporting Regina's pregnancy, but she would quite happily fulfill any, and all, of the woman's desires.

###


	11. Chapter 11

Moving along the sidewalk toward his father's shop and taking in the sights of Storybrooke that were both familiar and foreign, Neal Cassidy spotted Emma walking along the street. The Emma Swan he had known so long ago in the backseat of a stolen yellow Beetle now walked with a mature confidence he never would have believed her capable. The Evil Queen walked with her, and Henry ran around them. The three chattered back and forth. Emma smiled indulgently between her son and his adoptive mother. It was clear to Neal that Emma, who had spent a childhood without, had finally found her family. The last two weeks in Neverland, Em had been all over the emotional map. He recalled her harshly whispered admission that she wished he'd never come back in the Cave of Truths. He remembered nodding when she said it; he accepted the hell he'd put her through to fulfill the Savior prophecy. Emma had made it clear there would be no rekindling their romantic relationship. He sighed then, when he saw Henry and Emma exchange high fives, wishing he dared approach. But then Regina Mills rolled her eyes between Emma and Henry. The Evil Queen looked decidedly less 'evil' at the moment. Perhaps if Emma said something on his behalf he could visit a little with his son.

Neal recognized a lot of himself in the boy's pre-teen frame. He'd only had passing words with Henry while they were preparing to leave Neverland and return to Storybrooke. Was Henry adjusting well after his time at Pan's hands? Neal wondered if it would be helpful to talk. Surely Henry was much like any teenage boy and not always keen on sharing heavy thoughts with a parent?

He had just started across the street, planning to talk to Regina and Emma when Henry, in bounding around the two women, turned his head and spotted him.

"Dad!"

Neal hesitated in the middle of the street, his gaze moving from Emma to Regina who had turned sharply in the direction Henry had looked. The woman's brown eyes narrowed as soon as she saw him. Under that narrowed gaze, Neal recalled Emma's words: _Regina's his mother. It's up to her_. If he wanted to spend time getting to know Henry, he would have to go through Regina. Yes, he had left The Enchanted Forest long before Regina's rise as the Evil Queen, but there was no escaping his knowledge that she had been shaped and trained to commit unspeakable cruelties by The Dark One himself.

A vehicle honked. Neal forced himself to keep walking forward. He put his hands in his pockets, hoping to show himself harmless. "Hey. Uh. Henry." When he looked away from Henry, despite their difficulties he found it easier to look at Emma first. "Hi Em. And, uh..." His voice trailed off as he turned his gaze slightly to meet the brunette woman's gaze. "Quee... Regi - I mean...um..." He trailed off again and rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "I guess it's um Mayor Mills here?"

"Mr. Cassidy." Regina's tone was polite, formal, and very, very guarded. "Henry, would you go inside please and order for yourself? Tell Iris I will be in shortly."

Henry looked up at his adoptive mother with a clear plea in his eyes. Neal felt a smidgen of hope when Regina brushed her fingers under Henry's chin and gently smiled.

Once Henry had entered the store, Neal jumped in quickly on what he hoped were positive feelings. "I...you know...would it be possible, to spend time with Henry?"

"Why?"

Neal swallowed then gamely spoke directly, though he was aware he was making it a question with his tone. "He's my son?"

"Are you not planning to return to New York?" Regina replied. Despite her smile to Henry, her voice was cold as mercury hiding in the bulb. Regina was not going to be an easy person to deal with. "_My _son," she said, pointedly, "needs people who will stay in his life."

"Well, I, uh, I'm not leaving...for a while. I just...I'm getting to know my father again."

"How will you spend time with both your father and my son?" Regina's reply was sharp and brittle. "When I will not permit Rumple anywhere near Henry."

"Nowhere ne-" Neal cut himself off. "But...he's Henry's grandfather."

"This is a fact that irritates me more than I can say, Mr. Cassidy. Do not speak of it again."

Emma's hand went to Regina's arm. "Regina, maybe-"

Whatever Emma would have said was cut off by Neal blurting, "I just want to get to know my son!"

"Henry is _not_ your son. He is _my_ son. He is Emma's son. _You_ left any other option behind when you abandoned _her_." Regina turned on her heel and entered the ice cream shop. The move left Neal and Emma staring at each other. Perfect mirrors of each other, they both stood shoulders hunched with their hands shoved in their pockets.

Neal looked at Emma's posture. "Em?" he appealed.

Emma's shoulders straightened slowly and when her hands came out of her pockets, she spoke. "Regina doesn't deal well with being pushed."

"That's an understatement," he replied.

"Well, yeah." Emma turned away.

"Em, wait. Um. How is Henry doing... after... Pan?"

"He's fine."

"Um. I... You know, I spent years with Pan, too. Maybe. Um. Well, if Henry needs to talk, and ..." Neal trailed off. They'd known how to finish each others sentences a long time ago.

Emma turned back to face him and her green eyes were not unkind. She even quirked her lips at the corners the way he remembered. It used to be a sign she was intrigued by something. "Okay. I'll let Regina know you offered."

He knew that was the best he could get. Neal nodded and his hands came out of his pockets. "Thanks, Em."

* * *

Following her brief conversation with Neal, Emma entered Any Given Sundae. Henry was already at a small table with an ice cream cone. Regina had selected a small cup of something which Henry carried in his other hand while Regina paid the store owner, the blonde older woman named Iris behind the register.

At the jingle of the door, Iris's blue gaze snapped up and her eyes shined brighter for a moment. "Sheriff Swan? Can I get you anything?"

"Nothing today, thanks." Emma turned to Regina who was taking her small scoop from Henry's hands. "It's not his fault he didn't know," Emma said in a low voice, addressing the thoughts she knew Regina had while talking with Neal, the ones that had made Regina so angry.

"He's some eternally youthful boy in a man's body thanks to his time in Neverland," Regina stated. "You were barely 17."

"He never hurt me," Emma answered. "Not physically."

"It is difficult to think of being polite to the man when all I want to do is throw him through a wall."

Emma covered her lips and snort-laughed. "Please, don't." She glanced toward Henry. "Neal offered, well, you know, maybe having someone other than us to talk to..." Regina read her unspoken thoughts and looked toward Henry with concern. "Henry's probably okay. But...maybe you could change your mind?"

"Henry would talk to us, wouldn't he?" Regina replied in a low sharp hiss.

"Neal has had some experiences, you know. And he's...well, guy things sometimes, right?" Emma shoved her hands in her pockets again.

Regina looked worried, then her expression cleared. Emma exhaled as Regina called out, "Henry."

Henry jumped as if he hadn't been half-listening only a few steps away. "Yes, Mom?"

Emma kept her expression neutral. This was not her call and she was not going to be accused later of pushing Regina into a decision one way or another. "Would you like to spend some time with your-Mr. Cassidy while he is in Storybrooke?"

"Yeah?" Henry brightened then deflated. "He's not staying?"

"Neal still has a life back in New York, kid," Emma said.

"Does it bother you that he's planning to leave?" Henry asked, looking directly at Emma.

She answered him easily. "No."

"Are you just saying that because you're with Mom now?" he asked.

Emma shook her head emphatically. "No. What Neal and I had is in the past."

Henry turned to Regina and Emma got her first impression of Regina's thoughts on the topic. Through their connection, Emma felt Regina's relief. Then when Henry's gaze met hers, Regina was anxious. Emma grasped her fingers out of sight, down by her hip.

"I do want to find out more about my dad's life," Henry said. "So maybe he could come over sometimes?"

Emma didn't want to hear about it though. Knowing something was in the past didn't mean it wouldn't hurt to hear about all the other things Neal did after leaving her.

Regina's glance told Emma the brunette had heard Emma's thoughts. That was further confirmed when she spoke. "Not at the house, I think. But perhaps he can walk with you home after school for a few days?"

Henry beamed. "That works."

"Why don't you go outside and tell him now?" Regina nodded to the store window; outside, Neal could be seen hovering. "Mr. Cassidy sneaks around in secret just about as well as Emma does."

Henry laughed; Emma started to smile, then frowned, then gave a wry twist of her lips as she considered Regina's statement from all angles. After Henry dashed out the door, Emma followed Regina to a small round table beside the window where they sat. Together they watched Henry meet with Neal on the sidewalk outside.

"He really is Henry's father," Regina said sadly. "There's quite a resemblance."

Emma studied the two in profile facing one another as they talked. There was something to the slope of their noses, the tilt of their mouths, maybe. The dark hair. The same unmanageable cowlick. But there was also a sharp intellect behind Henry's eyes that differed from Neal's quick wits. "I always thought he looked like you," Emma said. "There's a lot more nurture than nature there, Regina."

Neal followed Henry back to the shop door. Both leaned inside, hanging in the open doorway and earning a frown from the owner. "Mom?" Henry asked.

"Yes, dear?"

"Can Neal take me home now? You and Ma have to get back to work. He can stay with me until you guys come home?"

Emma heard Regina's quick thought _Can I put a video home security system in place in five minutes?_

_No,_ Emma thought back. She reached out and rubbed the back of Regina's hand tightening around a napkin on the table. _It'll be okay_.

Regina exhaled with just a light flare of her nostrils. "All right, yes, he may stay with you at the house, Henry. Emma and I will return there by six to have dinner." _He'd better be gone _went unspoken.

"Emma's living with you?" Neal looked down at Henry then over to Emma.

"Yep," Henry said. "She's help-"

"It's how we share the kid." Emma interrupted. She shook her head slightly at Henry. She didn't want him to say more than Regina wanted revealed at the moment.

"Thank you," Neal said sincerely to Regina.

Henry pulled back out of the doorway and started down the sidewalk, pulling his father by the wrist."Bye, Mom! Bye, Ma!"

Regina spoke quietly. "Miss Swan?"

Emma grasped her hand. "You need a work distraction. Got it."

Stepping outside still holding Regina's hand Emma looked over at City Hall and snapped her fingers, poofing herself and Regina to the front steps in a cloud of white magic.

* * *

Stepping onto the sidewalk in front of his business, Rupert Gold, aka Rumplestiltskin, viewed the tail end of Emma's magic cloud and easily found the flash where the women appeared a moment later on the sidewalk in front of City Hall.

"Miss Swan has been practicing." He smirked, fingering a shard of crystal in the pocket of his suit jacket. The lavender and white ephemera within caught the sunlight and entwined like glittering ribbons, appearing to grow larger. "Just a little more, dearie."

Emma and Regina's voices emerged from the crystal as if they stood beside him not half a block away:

"_Return at 5:30. And do be prompt," _Regina stated. Threading through the woman's familiar commanding tone was a softening. Not to mention the woman was smiling with her eyes in a way Rumple had never seen: there was no guile, no scheme, just pleasure, in the eyes looking into Emma Swan's.

"_Got it," _Emma replied. Rumple easily heard the way the Savior's rough edges had been blunted. Where she had gone toe-to-toe with Regina before, she clearly would no longer do so.

He lifted the crystal until the sunlight coursed through it. He'd used it to reveal Regina's barren womb had quickened with life. As each day passed with the babe's growth, the crystal's connection to the baby and her parents, Regina and Emma, strengthened. Yes, products of True Love held immense magic, but Rumple remained stymied _how_ Emma's magic had created the child. Such power was beyond even the Dark One's abilities.

Rumple knew Regina's magic thoroughly, having taught the woman since she was a young woman. The daughter of Cora Mills, as expected, was a passable witch. Perhaps not as great as some, but despair had been quite a motivational instructor. Emma Swan's magic was less familiar and as the Dark One, Rumple had a base desire to control or possess it. Movement in his periphery drew Rumple's gaze.

Bae walked with Henry on the opposite side of the street. Father and son tentatively smiled at one another even while they spoke rapidly. Neal stopped and smiled at something Henry said then put his hand on the boy's shoulder, adding something else. Henry's smile widened. Cataloging the seeming breakthrough moment, a plan forward occurred to Rumple and he returned inside his shop.

###


	12. Chapter 12

"Em," David called, holding his cell phone to his ear.

"Yeah?" Emma called back to him from inside a closet-sized room. On her knees, with a red pen between her teeth and a black one in her right hand, she was using the clipboard in her left to verify their weapons inventory. She sat back against the wall waiting for her father to continue. Her calves were killing her.

"Your mother wants to know what time to serve dinner."

"Whenever you want it. I'm with Regina and Henry tonight." She bit her lip.

She vaguely heard David's words to her mother on the phone and let out a sigh. She'd revealed Regina's condition to Snow. She had told her where she needed, and wanted, to be. But it seemed her mother would remain persistent.

"Dad?" Emma called when silence resumed. "Everything all right?"

Her father stepped into the doorway. She saw by the darkened face of his phone that he'd ended the call. "Are you sure you know what you're doing?" he asked.

She took a deep breath and smiled, remembering her ice cream break with Regina and Henry. "Yeah."

David pursed his lips then flattened them out. Finally, apparently fortified, or at least done with heavy thinking, he spoke. "Em, I don't profess to any understanding of how magic works."

"You and Snow are true loves. You had me."

"Sweetheart, not to be indelicate, but you came into being the old fashioned way."

Emma gave a wry laugh; indelicate she wasn't. "Look...Is this because she and I are women?"

"No." Emma heard the honest affront in his voice. "I'm more bothered by _who_ you both are. You're the Savior. She's the Evil Queen. There's just something so...opposite about that."

_Okay_, Emma thought, _this I can work with_. "There's a saying that opposites attract," she suggested lightly.

"I've heard it," David remarked. He exhaled and leaned against the jamb of the door. "Look, I _do_ think Regina's changed on some levels since the curse was broken."

"She had changed before that," Emma said. "She couldn't have come to love Henry otherwise."

David crouched on the floor and lowered his voice. "Listen. My birth father was a drunkard who died on his way from market and lost everything we owned to a warlord. My adoptive father is a power-hungry king who simply replaced my twin with me when James had died on one of his stupid quests. They both claimed to love me," David said.

"What's your point?" Emma asked.

"Bad people can love, too. It doesn't make them any better people just because of that."

"But love can change a person."

"You don't partner up with someone to change them, Emma."

"I'm not. Regina has changed. She helped a lot at the docks today."

"All right, I'll accept your point." He straightened again. She followed him back out to the main space of the station. He leaned back against the desk, crossing his arms over his chest and crossing his legs at the ankles. "Can you let me and your mother be concerned just because you're our child?"

"I'm not a child." She leaned back, mirroring his pose. "Will you trust that I have figured out a few things about trust, love, and relationships over the years?"

"I do trust _you_," David said.

_That's enough_, Emma thought. _For now_. She did not want her and Regina's child born in the middle of a warring family. "Thank you." Her phone buzzed in her pocket. She silenced the alarm she'd set then shoved it back into her pocket. "5:25. Gotta go."

Grumpy entered the radio room. David signaled a thumbs up to the dark-haired, grizzle-bearded dwarf. Grumpy returned the signal. In the handset of the radio system he said, "1726 hours. Alpha Shift out. Beta Shift, acknowledge."

Emma heard the acknowledgements come in from second shift deputies Bashful and Happy.

While David backed out his light blue pick up from its parking space, Emma turned up the pavement for the short walk to City Hall. A few seconds after her father was out of sight, Emma increased her pace to a jog. She saw Regina step out to the City Hall steps, adjusting her purse on her shoulder. Turned away, the brunette wouldn't see her coming.

With a smirk, Emma snapped her fingers and reappeared at Regina's side. She wanted to say how good the brunette looked, but Regina's assistant was right behind her, also exiting the building. She went for formal. "Good evening, Madam Mayor."

Regina hadn't looked at her and also didn't flinch. "That will be all, Jeremy." Jeremy acknowledged the end of their conversation with a nod. Finally Regina turned and spoke to Emma. Her brown eyes were warm even if her words and tone were all-business within earshot of others.

"Good evening, Sheriff Swan. I trust Storybrooke is secure and safe for the night?"

"Yep." _There's that trust again_, she thought, reminded of her father's words.

_I do trust you_, Regina thought in reaction, her face revealing her surprise.

Emma grinned. "I know. It's just... Something my father said got me frustrated. They don't believe in us."

"They don't believe _me_, you mean." The brunette's self-directed agitation made Emma see red.

She shook her head and spoke vehemently. "Regina, damn it, I _don't _-" She cut herself off before saying she didn't care. Of course she cared. And Regina knew it. Emma blew out her breath and counted to ten, silent until she felt the heat had receded from behind her eyes. "They'll eventually accept it. Or not. I won't let that change what we're doing here. You and the baby mean too much to me."

Though finishing her thoughts aloud, Emma whispered the last because, even if she was thinking it and Regina could hear it if she said one thing while thinking another, she was still a private person. People were streaming out of most of the buildings on the street as the work day ended, so it was as crowded as Storybrooke tended to get.

Regina's fingers brushed Emma's too-warm cheeks. "Shh," Regina murmured, her thumb brushing against the corner of Emma's lips. The light of concern in Regina's face was so beautiful, but they weren't supposed to be anything to each other in public. Yet. Emma was determined to abide by Regina's every need. A lump grew in her throat though.

Pulling Regina's hand from her face, Emma took a step backward. "Yeah, I...I'm sorry. That was...out of line. This is too public."

Regina's throat moved in a swallow, drawing Emma's gaze to her pulse point.

_You are crazy, incredible, sensitive, so caring, beautiful... beautiful... _Emma heard the brunette's thoughts only a moment before her arms were filled with Regina's body and her lips were taken by Regina's kiss.

Regina's scent surrounded Emma. She closed her eyes and simply clung to the brunette. Regina's fists had grabbed the sides of Emma's jacket. She lifted her hands up from Regina's waist and found her hands catching fabric, untucking Regina's blouse and pressing urgently against hot skin. "God, Regina," Emma said, breathing hard into the parted lips taking a breath around hers. 

Magic spun up and around them. Regina's. Hers. Theirs. It all tugged at Emma's skin like they stood in the middle of a tornado.

She blinked when she realized it wasn't _like_ a tornado. Their magic _had _made a tornado whirl up right around them.

Regina's brown gaze met hers. The brunette was smirking. Emma looked around them sheepishly. An overturned Storybrooke Mirror newspaper rack lay nearby, its remaining papers scattered in the dirt. Trash from an overturned trash can had blown around on the usually immaculate City Hall lawn.

It was the gawkers at the sidewalk nearby along Main Street which eventually prompted them into action.

_Time to go_, Emma thought.

_After we clean up_, Regina answered.

Emma lifted her hand; Regina's closed around it. The effects of their magic maelstrom vanished. The scattered trash disappeared and the trash can was full. The newspaper dispenser had been righted and held a tidy stack of the evening edition.

"Regina? Emma?" Pongo barked and the women turned toward the sound. Archie had walked up from the other side while they were busily focused on clearing their mess.

"Yes, Dr. Hopper?" Regina's tone was tight.

"That was quite a display. Is everything all right?"

Emma's smile could have been answer enough. She felt Regina's wariness transform suddenly to pleasure. "Miss Swan and I are both quite fine, doctor. Thank you."

"Emma?"

"We're great, thanks, Archie," Emma echoed. "We gotta get back to Henry though. So… gotta go."

She took Regina's hand and smiled even wider at Archie. Lifting her other hand she planned to poof her and Regina to the mansion when Pongo's bark disrupted her concentration. The tiny puff of magic over her fingers snuffed out.

"Let me take this," Regina said. She lifted their joined hands again. Emma felt the brunette's pull on her magic and felt it swallow them up. A moment later Emma watched the not-quite-white cloud dissipate. They now stood together in the mansion's foyer.

"Mom! Ma!" When they turned, Henry bolted at them from the entry to the living room.

Over Henry's hug, Emma saw Neal stroll into sight and stop with his hands in his pockets to lean on the wall of the doorway.

"Emma. Regina," he greeted.

"Neal," Emma said stiffly, her feelings of wariness would never disappear. He'd taken one of the biggest, if not the biggest, swings at crumbling her self-worth, and it was going to be a long road to recovery.

"Henry finished his homework," Neal said and Emma appreciated that he seemed to understand what was important to Regina.

"Thank you, Mr. Cassidy." Regina let go of Henry. "Time to wash up. Dinner will be soon," she said, nudging Henry toward the stairs.

"Okay, Mom."

Emma forced herself to elicit some information, help Regina and show a united front about Henry. "Did you have a nice visit?"

"We talked over a few things," Neal said. He looked up at Henry stopped in the middle of the staircase. "If your mothers say we can get together again, I'll finish the story, okay?"

Henry's eyes were bright when he asked, "Can we, Mom?"

Regina's pursed lips hid her thoughts from both Henry and Neal, but Emma heard her wrestle between her inclination to deny Neal any further access and Henry's emotional needs. Finally Regina said, "Perhaps some time this weekend."

Henry's pleased smile marginally relaxed Regina's tension. Emma headed for the kitchen while Henry disappeared up the stairs to clean up.

"I'll go now," Neal said.

"Thank you." Regina's voice caught Emma in the kitchen doorway and she turned back to see Regina walking Neal to the front door. "For seeing to my… to Henry's safety, Mr. Cassidy," Regina said.

"It was… Yeah. I… Henry… He's… really... great kid."

Regina opened the door. "Good night."

"Good night." Neal turned his back on the door and started down the steps of the portico.

Shutting the door firmly behind Neal, Regina remained with her palm and fingers spread wide on the closed door for several seconds and head bowed.

"Regina?"

The brunette straightened quickly, pulling on her blouse before turning to Emma. "Yes?"

"You did the right thing," Emma assured.

"Knowing that doesn't make this any easier."

"I know." Emma reached out a hand. "C'mon. We'll make dinner together."

###


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _Getting ready for a hurricane here. Should just be a glancing blow, though_

Regina curled over the bathroom toilet, head spinning, feeling sweaty, and weak. Between one attempted deep breath to steady her nerves, and the next, Emma entered the bathroom, coming from the guest room across the hall.

Without a word the blonde wet a washcloth under the faucet and applied it to Regina's forehead, neck, and cheeks. Regina closed her eyes at the touch of cool bliss.

"You know," Emma started. The blonde sounded conversational, even though Regina knew where it was going. "You didn't throw up the morning after we slept together."

"Henry," Regina replied, as she always did. She was too tired to roll her eyes at the start of the same conversation they had had every other morning this week. She also knew Emma's reply before the blonde's pale lips were level to her line of sight as the blonde crouched next to her, continuing to cool her face and throat with the damp cloth.

Emma's reply was simple, and the same one she had said yesterday. And the day before. "He knows you get sick." Regina hung her head and tried to exhale away the nauseated feeling; Emma cooled the back of her neck with the cloth. "I'm in here every morning to help. That probably wakes him up."

Finally reaching for the edge of the sink to steady herself, Regina stood, turned, and sat down on the closed toilet seat, rubbing her forehead between her fingers. "He's eleven, Emma."

"Look, I'm just taking care of you being sick as far as he knows. We don't have to say anything more than that."

_But the more I'm intimate with you, the more I want you_, Regina thought. She detested feeling needy, weak.

"Can't get enough of this, hmm?" Emma's light teasing tone raised Regina's gaze to find the blonde's fingers brushing her own stomach under a rucked up tank top. The motion drew Regina's attention to the other woman's softly padded abs and a tiny stirring cloud of magic. The sight made Regina's mouth water. The woman's abs, too, were an attraction hard to resist. She licked her lips and pulled back abruptly.

"God!" She put her head in her hands again.

Over the last week, more and more often, Regina needed Emma's magic to function correctly and feel even vaguely normal. Emma had been becoming better with her spell casting, and Regina's would misfire if Emma wasn't somehow involved.

Emma knelt fully on the floor, resting her hands on Regina's knees. Green eyes sought hers. "Look, I hate seeing you so sick. Just let me sleep in here with you tonight. Just sleep. We'll see if it helps, all right?"

"Isn't there something else we haven't tried from the online advice?" she asked.

"We've tried them all," Emma said. "Except acupuncture. And we don't have a licensed person in town to do that. Besides you said it would probably be triggering for you."

_A reminder of Greg and Tamara's torture_. Regina exhaled. "All right. _After _Henry is in bed tonight, you can accompany me."

Emma kissed her forehead. "So, ginger mint?" She snapped her wrist out toward Regina and opened her palm, a single gold foil wrapped mint in her hand. When Regina took it and while she was unwrapping it, Emma kissed her temple. After starting to suck on the cooling, soothing, and delicious hard candy, Regina tucked it between her teeth and cheek. "Thank you," she murmured.

"Anytime." Emma kissed her again, stood and stepped back out of the bathroom.

Regina had moved to stand at the sink and was splashing water on her face when she heard Emma and Henry in the corridor.

"Mom's not feeling any better this morning?" he asked. Regina's heart clutched. He sounded so worried. She hadn't been able to help him get off to school most mornings.

"It's gonna pass, kid," Emma said. However, Regina heard the blonde's doubting thoughts. Emma really believed there was cause and effect between her magic and Regina's improved health.

Looking down at her stomach, Regina brushed her fingers against her navel. Emma, who had once not believed in magic, now completely believed it not only had made a child, but that it would be necessary to maintain a magic connection throughout the pregnancy for both Regina's and the baby's health.

Regina released an exasperated sigh. She and Emma had read many more websites together. Every one of them indicated that a baby took everything it could from the mother's body in order to grow healthy. Though that referred to nutrients, it was not far-fetched that a baby conceived with magic would need more magic to continue to grow. Was that why Regina's magic was haywire and needed Emma's to supplement? _Are you taking my magic? _She asked the baby silently.

At the same time she had that thought, she was also hit by the realization that her magic was dark. Emma's was light. Fear struck her that the baby taking her magic was a bad idea.

Emma entered the bathroom doorway again.

"I need you," Regina said and heard her voice trembling with fear. "I can't have her get dark magic," she whispered.

"I know." Emma's tone wasn't gloating; she had already come to the same conclusion. "Yeah, I… I talked with Leroy's… Grumpy's girlfriend, Sister.. Uh, the fairy… Astrid maybe? Nova?"

"You talked to the _fairies_ about my pregnancy?"

"Not yours. A hypothetical… Fairies and dwarves are conceived with magic. I asked if magic babies grow normal or only have magic afterward. Nova was quick answering. Apparently magic is needed all the time or there can be...problems."

From Emma's tone, the "problems" the fairy had mentioned included things far, far worse than morning sickness. With the deformed images appearing in her mind from Emma's own, Regina felt tears of frustration and fear gathering in her eyes. But through the veil, she saw Emma, her Savior. The blonde had gone seeking answers where Regina couldn't. She turned in the small space, huddling into Emma's warm body. Strong arms encircled her back. Listening to Emma's heartbeat steadied her own.

Yes, Regina accepted her feelings for Emma, and Emma's for her. But the reality of _needing_ someone? She was still adjusting to that.

* * *

Henry walked into his school with the other students. His grandmother Snow, Mary Margaret, had been his teacher under the curse. Now she was, more or less, the school's chief administrator. He recalled she'd tried to take over as Mayor when the curse was first broken and she and Ma had gotten back from falling through the hat to the Enchanted Forest.

"Henry," she said, spotting him.

"Hi, Gramma," he said. She hugged him.

"Emma didn't walk you to school today?"

"She was helping Mom with something."

"Oh?"

"You know why Mom's sick," Henry said quietly. He wasn't sure why everyone was keeping it a secret, but he knew Ma had told Snow something to explain her move to the mansion.

"Emma said she thought Regina was..."

"Mom's been throwing up for a week. They've tried everything."

Snow's face scrunched up distastefully.

"I've been getting myself off to school so they can deal with it."

His grandmother cupped his cheek. "You shouldn't have to. You can stay with me and David."

Henry shook his head, remembering Ma and him coming home once to the loft with takeout. "Uh, I'd rather help Mom get better." Remembering suddenly he was talking to his mom's mom, he went on quickly with an idea. "Wait. You know about this stuff. You were pregnant ... maybe you know something that can help?"

"I… Henry. I don't know."

"Didn't you have morning sickness? I read most women do."

"I did, but it was… mild. Only occasionally was it ..." Snow's voice trailed off.

Henry sensed Snow might have an idea. "Would you write it down? I can tell Mom and Ma after school."

The school's tardy bell rang. Snow patted his shoulder. "You better go to class, Henry."

Henry entered Miss Merriweather's class. Turning around to put up his coat and bag on the hooks by the door, he saw Snow hurrying off down the corridor.

* * *

The office of the Mother Abbess at the church was a quiet space. Snow exhaled as she entered behind the Blue Fairy. "Blue, thank you for seeing me."

"Anything for you, Snow, of course."

Snow sat down in the small chair facing a small desk. The Blue Fairy sat in a padded high backed chair behind the desk.

"What can I do for you?"

Now that she sat here, face to face with the Blue Fairy, Rheul Ghorm herself, Snow was daunted. "I'm curious about magic," Snow began.

"Is there a particular type of magic that concerns you?"

"Dark magic."

"Does the incident with Cora and the candle still concern you?" The Blue Fairy asked. "It was necessary to remove the threat Cora posed to everyone should she have gotten hold of the magic of the Dark One."

"I… I know." Snow exhaled. "No, um, can dark magic … make… a child?"

"Dark magic darkens a heart, Snow."

"I know, yes, but can dark magic make someone pregnant?"

To Snow's surprise, Blue laughed, the dark short locks of her hair bouncing around her face. "Your own pregnancy with Emma was aided by the magic waters of Lake Nostos. But the water didn't _make_ Emma the Savior. Pregnancies still occur naturally between a man and a woman."

"So two women can't make a baby together?"

"Two women? Fairies are sterile. We bud from flowers kissed by light magic."

"What about dark magic?"

"Dark magic is solely destructive, never constructive. Dark magic is _contrary_ to life; it _cannot_ create it."

Snow swallowed. She wasn't sure she was going to be happy with the Blue Fairy's answer, but she had nowhere else to ask. "What about Emma's magic?"

"Emma's magic is pure light, Snow. Goodness. Perfect. She's the Savior."

"Still... Could she somehow magically cause a pregnancy?"

"Is Henry showing signs of magic? I thought his father was a man from this world that Emma met?"

"Henry's father is Neal Cassidy. Neal was apparently... Bae, Rumplestiltskin's son, but -"

The Blue Fairy sat up straighter. "Wait? How is that…? Baelfire is alive?"

"Yes, but that's not the point. I'm not talking about Emma's pregnancy or Henry," Snow interrupted. "It's Regina."

"Regina? The Evil Queen is _pregnant_?" The Blue Fairy's surprise was sharp.

Snow sank back into her chair, clutching the arms of it. "I...don't… Emma says she is. Says that the child is hers. Henry… he said… He said Regina is very sick. Every morning," she added pointedly.

"Regina…" The Blue Fairy trailed off and shook her head. "No… She took a potion in the Enchanted Forest to prevent your father from getting her pregnant."

Snow felt her head start pounding. Thinking about her father with anyone but her mother... "How do you know?"

"She asked a midwife for a potion, who asked a fairy, who asked me."

"So she can't get pregnant?"

"But you just said she is."

"Regina _must _be lying to Emma." Snow grew angry. "But the reason… I don't know _why_. What would Regina gain from having Emma believe she's pregnant?"

"Emma is not easily fooled. Surely she's had a doctor verify the pregnancy?"

"I don't know. Emma says she can _feel_ the child growing. She says it's a girl."

"Emma's magic is extremely untrained."

The doubt in the Blue Fairy's voice gave Snow hope. "Could we test Regina somehow?"

"Speak to Dr. Whale," the Blue Fairy said. "He can bring Regina in under some guise of a contaminant from your visit to Neverland. Didn't you say David had gotten sick there?"

"Dreamshade," Snow said. "Rumplestiltskin gave him a potion when we got back that cured him."

"Call Dr. Whale. Make an appointment for Regina."

Snow lifted her phone and selected the hospital's number. "Dr. Whale, please," she asked the operator.

"Snow?" Dr. Whale answered a moment later. "What can I do for you?"

"Can you test Regina to see if she's pregnant?"

"Already did," he said.

Snow gasped. "What? When?"

"A week ago. Emma brought her by."

Hesitantly, since Emma had spoken several times to David during the week, Snow asked, "What… what was the result?"

Dr. Whale didn't hesitate. He seemed rather pleased. "Regina is approximately three, now four, weeks pregnant."

Snow felt tears hotly fill her eyes. She pulled the phone away from her ear. The Blue Fairy's kind eyes met hers. "It's true," she whispered. "Regina is pregnant."

The Blue Fairy shook her head. "Doesn't prove it's Emma's child."

"How else could it have happened?"

"Has Regina been seeing someone?"

Snow shook her head. "She… Graham, I think. But that was … more than a year ago before Emma broke the curse." The Blue Fairy nodded. "She...Emma… They were trying to get Henry back from Pan. I...guess. How can we…?" Snow trailed off and put the phone back to her ear. "How can we find out who the father is?" she asked Dr. Whale.

"When the child is born there's DNA testing," he said.

"That's too long to wait," Snow insisted. She ended the call with Whale and looked at the Blue Fairy. "Can _you_ find out who the father is? Show Regina is lying, stop her influence over Emma?"

"I can look into the matter," the Blue Fairy said.

Feeling immensely relieved, Snow stood up. _There was no way two women… _"Good," she told the Blue Fairy. Quickly she left the nunnery and returned to school.

* * *

Regina started back to the kitchen carrying the last dishes from the dinner table. She had already sent Henry upstairs to do his homework and wash. Pausing in the doorway, she listened to the light clinking and sloshing sounds as Emma washed the dishes.

Dinner had been unusually quiet, except for Henry explaining as he often did, the events of his classes for the day. Regina had heard these types of stories, encouraging them ever since he was a child. Emma hadn't and Regina wondered if that weighed heavily on the other woman's mind and heart, reminding her she had given up Henry, and making her think about the baby Regina carried. However, Emma's thoughts were quiet, and Regina could only guess at the other woman's mood from her protracted silence. Though likely aware of Regina's thoughts, Emma appeared content to leave her alone, so Regina assumed that was what Emma wanted: space.

She moved to the counter, her heels clicking on the tile and skirt swishing around her thighs. Finally standing at the cabinets where she kept her plastic storage containers, she sorted the few leftovers. Each went in its own air-tight sealed space: a single serving of Florentine chicken breast, steamed vegetables with a light citrus sauce, and mashed potatoes. The remaining gravy she poured into a small jar.

She bobbled the glass jar in her hand when a single thought from Emma suddenly sounded in her mind. _What an ass._ "What?" Regina turned abruptly.

Emma's cheeks pinked. "I…" She started, then shook herself to silence. "Forget it. I was being crass."

"Are you upset at me about something? You were very quiet at dinner. Even in here." Regina pointed to her own temple.

"You were focused on Henry."

"Perhaps," Regina conceded, "but I noticed."

"I never… you know how I felt in Neverland, always an orphan."

"You have parents."

"There's nothing that can make up for a lifetime of sitting at dinner tables where they're not there. The people who were at those tables for years and years moved in and out of my life so often, I couldn't get attached. I didn't dare. They weren't ... weren't my _family._"

Feeling, seeing, and hearing how much it hurt the blonde to recount that time in her life, Regina held up a hand, offering to allow Emma to stop. Just like it would also take time to alter Regina's instincts to never show weakness.

"But," Emma went on. "Tonight was… all _mine_. Henry, you…" She dropped her gaze to Regina's stomach. "Her. This time I sat at a dinner table _with my family_."

Emma's thoughts weren't forming words, but filled with effusive emotion. Love in green eyes echoed from her mind and soul and drew Regina closer.

"Ye-ah," Emma stuttered and wiped her damp hands on the sides of her jeans. Regina returned her gaze to Emma's face only to close her eyes as the blonde's lips pressed softly to her own. Warm, still moist fingers, tucked around Regina's hands. "It's kind of...it leaves me rocked, Regina. I don't know what to say."

Taking one hand from Emma's, Regina cradled the blonde's cheek and kissed her. She lingered long and soft before slowly pulling back. She murmured against Emma's lips. "Join me for a nightcap in the study?"

"More research?" Emma asked.

"More kisses," Regina said with a tender smile. "Henry will be upstairs for a while. We can go tuck him in bed later. Until then, I think, I would like to keep kissing you."

She drew Emma behind her with a hand, turned and walked out of the kitchen and down the short corridor to the study. The drapes were still open from the day and she sat Emma down on the sofa before going to close them. She collected the brown, tan, and gold crocheted blanket from the corner rocker again, remembering how Emma had been comforted by it. Returning to the sofa, Regina sat down and arranged herself against the other woman. She lifted her knees partially across Emma's lap. Finally, she tucked the blanket in around them both.

She lifted an eyebrow. Emma cupped Regina's face and initiated a kiss, generating warm tendrils throughout Regina's body. She felt her toes tingle, her fingers flex, and she pressed them against Emma's chest while the blonde's hands slid down her back, pulling her even closer. Their chests aligned. One of Emma's hands moved all the way down Regina's back, caught under her ass and lifted Regina more completely onto Emma's lap.

_Gorgeous ass_, Regina heard when Emma squeezed her rear and jolts of wet desire formed between her thighs and deep in her belly.

Regina moved her hand across Emma's chest headed for the woman's shoulders, to grasp, to clasp, to pull. Her gaze lingered on nipples hardening through the fabric of the woman's shirt and bra. Lust made her squirm. _Touch me..._

Regina moaned into their kiss when Emma's warm hand did squeeze her knee, slide up under her skirt, and find the top of her garter. "Em-ma!" Needfully her body clamored for the blonde's attention.

"Right here." Emma sat her back, pressing with her body and kisses until Regina was against the corner cushions. Regina's hands met blanket as Emma pushed the blanket at her.

The blonde knelt to the floor and began kissing up Regina's calves, removing shoes, easing apart her knees. Regina felt aflame everywhere Emma's fingers touched. The insides of Regina's knees and thighs received dedicated attention from Emma's lips and fingers bypassed Regina's garter, sliding down only her underwear.

"We should stay dressed for Henry," Regina said. It was a small protest, consideration for Henry coming out of habit. But Emma continued, aware of Regina's needs at the same time. She did not wish Emma to stop a single thing she was doing. Not when her blood sang with need for the other woman.

"Just let me...Yeah..." Emma's voice trailed away when her kisses finally found Regina's throbbing clit.

"Ah!" Regina gasped then sighed when she felt Emma's tongue. "Oh."

"So good," Emma murmured between laps. Her hands went under Regina's rear, canting her hips and pulling her firmly forward to receive attention.

The sensations made Regina's toes curl and uncurl. The muscles in her thighs quivered and she squeezed herself briefly around Emma's head, her fingers flexing in silk curls. After a sharp inhale and hearing Emma's thought of pain, Regina shifted her hold to Emma's shoulders and twisted shirt fabric in her hands. "Fuck," Regina demanded.

"I love how you taste," Emma murmured.

"Fingers. Emma," Regina demanded again. She was so close to orgasm.

Emma gave Regina's center an open-mouthed kiss before slowly, sweetly curling two fingers inside. _So soft, so wet, sooooo good…. _Regina heard in tempo with Emma's strokes. Everything converged: Emma's thoughts, Regina's feelings, their magic. Regina's orgasm crashed like a tidal wave from her center outward.

Taking in deep breaths as her body drifted down from the heights, Regina blinked. Lassitude weakened her limbs and her stomach fluttered. She cupped a palm over her belly. Emma removing her fingers triggered small aftershocks of sensation. Brushing Regina's damp curls over her sex, Emma kissed her stomach and her lips brushed Regina's fingers.

_Yeah, baby girl. Got you._

Regina felt something when she heard Emma's thoughts: a spark from behind her belly button. The sensation was so gentle and so fleeting it might have been easy to miss in a hectic day. Now though, reclining in the quiet aftermath of connecting their bodies through love and magic, Regina realized the sensation was _their_ child, hers and Emma's, loving them.

"Wow," Emma whispered as she also felt the connection.

"Mmm hmmm," Regina murmured.

Emma pushed to her feet and Regina sat up.

"Come upstairs with me," Regina said. "We'll tuck Henry in together."

"Then go to bed ourselves," Emma finished her words and her thoughts.

Regina smiled.

###


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Our couple enjoys waking up together before facing a tough morning. ~ LZ

Emma blinked open her eyes as an alarm sounded somewhere outside her subconscious. She was naked, and curled around Regina, her knees tucked up under the other woman's smooth and muscular legs. They were burrowed together under the sheets and blankets in the middle of Regina's bed. Flexing her fingers, Emma delightedly found her hand cupped around one of Regina's breasts. The nipple stiffening into her palm.

Lowering her arm from turning off the alarm, Regina pushed back with her hips and rocked her ass into Emma's groin. The sweet pressure made Emma push forward. Her other hand slipped from lightly resting on the curve of Regina's hip to the front, across the other woman's waist. She found the brunette's belly button and a hum encouraged Emma onward. "Good morning," Emma murmured.

"Mmm hmmmm." The brunette's brain was as fuzzed as her speech at this early hour. Emma heard that hum of happiness become a _yess _in the woman's thoughts when Emma slid her hand lower and wet the tip of her fingers.

Rolling onto her back, Regina's luminous brown eyes called Emma forward in the darkness. Emma kissed her languidly then proceeded to awaken Regina's body with kisses one patch of skin at a time.

Lingering at Regina's breasts, Emma's mouth circled the dark areola before nipping at each thick nipple. Regina's hips rose and fell. _More_, her thoughts whispered.

At Regina's stomach, Emma said, "Good morning" again. She felt a tingle in her head, followed by a warm flush that traveled her body. Regina's mind hummed with her own. _Our baby, _they thought_._

Emma kissed down one of Regina's legs, making the woman delightfully squirm, then she kissed just as deliberately up the other firm calf, knee then strong thigh. Sometime, she thought, she would love to worship Regina's ass.

_Later, _came the brunette's simple mental response. Emma laughed at how demanding Regina's mind sounded, even sleepy.

Finally, satisfying both of them, Emma pressed kisses into the wiry hairs matted with Regina's arousal. _Heaven_, she thought. Regina groaned and rocked her hips against Emma's face while Emma lapped the light flavors from her center until she arched in orgasm.

Crawling back up while reveling in all the new curvier places, wider hips, softening belly, and fuller breasts, Emma concluded her exploration with kisses to the underside of Regina's jaw, which was just beginning to move as the brunette tried for something coherent. Emma thought, _no need to talk now_.

The brunette's fingers tangled needfully in Emma's hair. Slowly she rose up on her hands, dragging her hips between Regina's until the hairs of their sex brushed together. She rubbed their pubic mounds together. The light friction set off a satisfying flutter in her groin.

"Regi-." She cut off her own request, not wanting to take, only to give, even though need rose within her.

"Let me give this to you," Regina said. Between their bodies, her fingers found then stroked into Emma. Holding herself up on shaking arms, Emma shuddered then came around the strong seeking digits.

Lowering herself shakily to one side, Emma's saw Regina licking her own fingers. "Fuck," she breathed, "hot."

"Best remedy for morning sickness I've had yet," Regina murmured. Even not quite awake, she sounded teasing.

"You feel okay then?" Emma asked, her fingers brushing gently across Regina's stomach.

The brunette nodded. "Not even the tiniest twinge of discomfort."

"Hallelujah." Emma chuckled. They kissed, and continued to celebrate until dawn's light was impossible to ignore.

* * *

Henry was pouring his cereal when Regina and Emma came downstairs. Regina had loaned Emma a gray robe and wore a deep midnight blue one herself.

"Mom!" Henry put down the milk jug and walked to her in the doorway.

"Hello, sweetheart." She kissed his hair as he hugged her, though he wouldn't squeeze as tightly as he might have once. She brushed a lock hair from his forehead when he looked up at her. "I'm feeling better."

"That's great." He glanced toward Emma who had moved past both of them further into the kitchen and was currently setting three juice glasses on the counter next to a pitcher of orange juice.

"You need vitamin C, kid," Emma said, handing them each a glass when Regina walked over with Henry.

Henry took his juice and his cereal to the far side of the breakfast counter and sat on a stool. Regina sipped her orange juice slowly. She missed her apple juice and cider, but the tart citrus clearly was what her body preferred right now.

"What's on your mind for breakfast?" Emma asked.

Regina queried her body and said, "I'm not hungry just yet."

"How about we stop at Granny's after taking Henry to school?" Emma said. "Get something special?"

"You just want blueberry pancakes," Henry said.

Emma's cheeks turned pink. Regina laughed. That had been exactly what Emma was thinking.

"Blueberry pancakes at Granny's sounds wonderful," Regina said. "Now, we'll be upstairs, Henry. You may have twenty minutes to play games."

Regina took Emma's hand and Emma poofed them upstairs to the bedroom.

"We only have twenty minutes," Regina said, dropping her robe and heading into the master bathroom.

"Magic has its uses," Emma said, dropping her own robe and following.

Inside the shower, warm water pouring down across Regina's body, Emma got to fulfill her earlier wish and worship Regina's beautiful backside. The splash of water on tile covered Regina's orgasmic cries while Emma held her up with one arm and fucked her deeply from behind with her fingers.

When they stepped out, Regina queried her body while watching Emma dry off. The blonde's curls between her legs were making Regina's fingers itch to explore. But they didn't have time.

"I'd like to try something," she said to Emma.

"What?"

"Using magic," Regina said. "To dress."

"Sure."

Regina snapped her fingers. Within a pale cloud that only held hints of lavender she felt her body dry and her chosen attire cover her skin. The only thing remaining damp was her hair. She smiled broadly and reflected back Emma's impressed grin.

"There," she said. "Now, you."

"I can dress myself."

"That's what I mean, dear. Use magic."

Emma nodded then she closed her eyes, and Regina saw the picture she made in her mind of being dressed in … _Jeans, a long sleeve green button up, and boots_. Did the blonde know how much Regina loved Emma's more rugged look?

"I know you thought my short time letting my dress me was... how would you put it? Oh yeah: a _disservice_ to my figure," Emma replied aloud.

"How...? I never said."

"No, but the intrigue usually in your eyes when we first met became disappointment, and you'd glare at my mother. Remember I used to study people for a living, too."

Emma's magic manifested as a white cloud and briefly obscured her from view. When the cloud was gone, Emma stood properly dressed in exactly what she had thought.

Regina raised an eyebrow, returning to their original thread of conversation. "I always glare at your mother."

"Touche." Emma chuckled and leaned so her forehead rested gently against Regina's. "I'd rather be naked," Emma said. "I've enjoyed this morning."

"So I have I," Regina replied softly when Emma's cheek slid against hers. "Let's get Henry to school."

* * *

Emma held the door for Regina as they entered Granny's. Henry was happily off at school. They'd seen Snow at a distance, holding open the doors as Henry walked into the building. Emma's mother had not even looked up at them, simply smiling at Henry then letting the door close when the last of the children was inside. A moment later the bell sounded, signalling the official start to the school day.

The diner was quite busy and Emma thought they should just go somewhere else, or magic up a breakfast on their own, or… Regina put a gentle hand on her wrist, quieting Emma's indecision.

Ruby walked up. "Coffee? Bearclaw?"

"Full breakfast," Emma answered, "but you look kinda slammed."

"Just the usual rush. What would you like?" Ruby talked while setting out food plates from a tray at a table with two of the dwarfs. "I can have Granny pack it to go."

"Blueberry pancakes," Emma said. "Regina?"

"Make that two, Miss Lucas."

"Coffees, too?"

"I'll have coffee, but Regina…"

"I'll have another orange juice," Regina interjected.

"Make that two OJ, one coffee," Emma finished.

"So two blueberry stacks, two O.J., and one coffee?"

"Yeah."

"Have a seat out on the deck," Ruby said. "I'll bring it out."

"Thank you," Regina said.

Sitting outside on the wooden bench that ran along the length of fence and next to three small round tables, Emma turned to Regina. "Sorry about this."

"I'm not interested in being part of a crush either," Regina replied. "I have a lovely, quiet view of the lake from my office balcony."

Emma had her fingers on the the table, twisting and tapping her wallet. She desperately wanted something to do with her hands since she couldn't reach for Regina's in public. "You really want to go in to the office?" the blonde asked.

With a jolt of surprise, Emma felt Regina's fingers touch the back of her hand. The brunette's brown eyes were piercing when Emma found them. The former queen's indomitable voice became a quiet thread. "It's peaceful. Quiet." _Alone_, the brunette's mind added; brown eyes studied Emma's mouth. "Jeremy won't start until 9. It's only 8 now."

She heard Regina's self-directed awe that she hadn't felt this deep a need in years to touch someone just to connect. She turned over her palm and tangled their fingers. "Right here."

Regina's smile warmed Emma inside and they sat without words or distinct thoughts, watching the sunrise change from orange to gold.

The restaurant door swung on squeaky hinges. Regina and Emma turned and their hands parted. Ruby came out with a pair of bags imprinted with the diner logo.

Emma reached out and passed several bills before Regina could. "My treat," she told the brunette. Regina grabbed the two bags instead.

Ruby's eyes widened with her surprise. "Anything else?"

Regina opened the bags and nosed around inside. "Mmm hmmm," she murmured. Emma heard the desire and pleasure as Regina inhaled the aroma from the blueberry pancakes and syrup.

"That means we're good," Emma answered Ruby with a chuckle.

"I'll be right back with your change," Ruby said.

"Nah, keep it."

"Thanks, Em." Regina's eyes lifted and narrowed at the waitress.

Emma felt the jealousy aimed at Ruby through their connection. So she leaned forward and took one bag from Regina.

"C'mon, Madam Mayor." She led the way across and down the street, occasionally brushing shoulder to shoulder, as they approached city hall.

* * *

Ruby heard her grandmother step out while she watched the sheriff and mayor walk away. "You better get back in. We got customers."

"Yeah. Um." Ruby frowned. She nodded toward Emma and Regina walking away. "You smell anything different in the air?"

"Yeah." Granny didn't miss a beat. "It's love. Been on those two since they got back from Neverland."

"Yeah?" She wasn't sure, but she thought maybe something else was there, too. She knew love pheromones; Snow and David reeked of them.

"Yeah." Granny rubbed the side of her nose. "Unmistakable."

"I wonder if Snow approves."

"Not our business," Granny replied. "Diner is. C'mon, back inside."

"Okay." Ruby glanced up the street to see Emma had taken Regina's hand as they turned off the sidewalk and started taking the stairs up into city hall. The couple was definitely trying to be discreet. Though when Emma held the front door and swept her arm behind the mayor's back, it was clear there was more love than duty behind that protective gesture.

* * *

"I guess I better go," Emma said. Regina's assistant Jeremy, carrying a clipboard, had just entered in the doorway to the mayor's inner office. They'd had almost an hour simply being present with one another. They sat on a pair of chairs on the office balcony, looking out over a lake that dominated the park behind the building.

"Let's discuss this further later, Sheriff," Regina said, fingers lightly touching her own lips.

Emma smirked. Before Jeremy had knocked, Emma had been sharing the remains of her coffee in heated kisses because "drops certainly can't be enough to cause problems," as Regina had eyed the cup with longing.

"I'll look into some decaf blends," Emma promised. "But you need to stay off the caffeine."

Regina watched Emma walk out past Jeremy. Only slightly perturbed because Emma's kisses really were delightfully stimulating, Regina turned to her assistant. "What's first on the agenda today?"

"You don't have a scheduled meeting for an hour. But the Blue Fairy has asked for a few minutes of your time."

"What does she want?"

"She says it's something about permits for Miner's Day?"

"She should be down in Permitting."

"I told her that," Jeremy replied. "She says that she needs to speak with you about the candles."

Regina frowned, but relented. "Fine." She stood in the doorway while Jeremy stepped back out and saw Emma and The Blue Fairy warily regarding one had her hands in her back pockets, drawing Regina's gaze to her rear, while giving the fairy, who still dressed as the nun she had been under the curse, her attention. Blue's sharp gaze seemed to be dissecting Emma head to toe.

"The mayor will see you now," Jeremy said since neither Blue nor Emma had turned at Regina's appearance.

When the Blue Fairy's gaze found her, Regina pasted on her most diplomatic smile. "Come in." Emma started walking with Blue. "Good day, Sheriff," Regina encouraged.

"Lunch meeting, right?" Emma stopped walking forward and dropped her hands out of her pockets. Blue walked past Regina into the office. The blonde said nothing. Regina however heard _Take care of yourself, Regina_ from the blonde's thoughts.

_Emma, I'll be fine_. "Yes." She smiled.

When Regina finally reentered her office, Blue said, "Good morning, Regina." The head of the fairies remained standing next to the sofa.

"Have a seat." Regina gestured. "You wanted to discuss Miner's Day?" She wanted business with the fairy concluded quickly, feeling guarded, though for the moment she could pinpoint no cause beyond their usual animosity. She remembered Blue's attempt to trick her into a magic trap and frowned. However, she'd put that attempt aside quickly and not been fazed by it since. She turned to shut the office door and caught the flash of a boot out of the corner of her eye and realized Emma was only just leaving. Was the blonde the one concerned about Blue and Regina was picking up on the emotions? "Permitting is on the first floor."

Blue held a large blue-patterned canvas bag in front of her with both hands and circled the room. Regina followed, more and more stymied when the fairy passed up a number of seating options before circling the sofa once more. Finally, the woman sat down.

Regina raised an eyebrow. Slowly she sat down in the padded chair across from the sofa. She put her arms out on the wings of the chair and leaned forward.

"What can I do for you, Blue?" It was obvious to her that the fairy was here for something more complicated than candles.

"I'm concerned we will not have enough space for all the candles." The woman's tone was innocuous enough; still Regina's gaze narrowed. "We had to double the order based on the pre-order requests we received."

"You really should take this up with Permitting."

"But all the spaces have been sold already to other vendors."

Regina shrugged. "I'm still not certain what I can do. Or that I should do anything. Have people bring in more stock from the convent when you run out."

"I suppose that will be best." Blue opened her bag and withdrew a candle. Regina's gaze dropped to it, inspecting it as the fairy turned it around and around in her hands. The candle was primarily a creamy white with marbled veins of lavender, pink, and blue. In a word, it was stunning.

"Light is such a wonderful thing. Everyone wants one. Especially this time of year when you can just about taste that spring is coming."

"It's lovely," Regina murmured. The veins of color seemed to be more than surface-deep and swirled as Blue turned the candle. Regina could feel herself reaching out for it, and Blue reached out to her with it. Regina's head and stomach both sharply twinged. She dropped her hands to protectively cover the discomforting sensation in her abdomen first. Blue leaned back, the candle finally sitting on her lap.

Regina blinked and shook her head to dismiss an encroaching headache. The sudden quiet was extremely disturbing. Wetting her mouth she swallowed and spoke. "I thought the nuns - uh, fairies - made the candles." She seemed to recall previous years the candles were very plain, single colors and made by hand. But the artistry here was incredible. "Are you using magic?"

"Magic is useful," Blue said.

Regina pursed her lips and swallowed down bile trying to crawl up her throat. Her head pounded so hard she pressed her hand to her temple in an attempt to stave it off. "I can understand that."

Blue's words droned in the background of throbbing pain. "Magic helps accomplish great things."

Regina put her hand over her eyes as the light in the room seemed suddenly brighter. She flexed her hands and took slow deep breaths to release her tension.

Finally able to focus once again, Regina lowered her hand and blinked, pursing her lips. Across from her Blue had settled into the sofa cushions, a dark eyebrow arched. On the periphery of her awareness, Regina saw the fairy's fingers circling over the candle surface. Regina's stomach growled and twisted and the edges of her vision darkened. The urge to throw up was back with a vengeance. Abruptly covering her mouth, Regina stood. "Excuse me."

Blue put the candle back into her bag and stood. The woman's blue eyes clouded. Sensing anger, Regina backed up a step. Her hands came up in a defensive push.

The Blue Fairy dipped her head and took a step back. Regina breathed easier. But she still needed to be alone. "I have another meeting," Regina said. "Show yourself out."

Without waiting to see if the Blue Fairy left, Regina hurried into the small office bathroom and shut the door.

* * *

Emma opened the door to Gold's shop and saw him standing behind the counter. A glance to the right and left showed he was the only one in the front part of the shop. "Station called. You reported a break-in?"

"Good morning, Sheriff Swan," Gold said, glancing up before simply looking back down at whatever had his attention on the counter.

Irritated, Emma stepped further into the shop. "I came to make a report. What's been taken?"

"Nothing," Gold said.

A few steps from the counter, Emma could see now what held Gold's attention. A crystal lay on the glass, swirling with lavender, blue and white.

One of his thingamabobs must've broken. "What broke?" Emma edged closer. The strands of color dance. He removed it when she started to reach for it. Covering her embarrassment, Emma tucked her hand into her pocket. "So, uh, you had a break-in?"

"Yes, yes, but, as it turns out, nothing was taken." He smiled at her. "I apologize for bothering you, Sheriff."

She shook her head, not accepting his deflection. The man was always after something. "What did you really want me here for, Gold?"

He shrugged and she watched him tuck the crystal away in his inside coat pocket. "I understand Bae has been allowed to visit with Henry."

"Yeah." Emma hesitated saying more. After all, Gold was persona non grata with Regina for attempting to harm Henry. "He asked permission. She granted it. For a few hours."

"Will Bae be allowed a role in raising my grandson?"

"_Regina_ is raising Henry."

"What about you? Have you and Regina resolved your custody arrangement?"

"I'm not taking Henry away from her." She added sharply, "Neither will anyone else."

"Such a _charming_ turn of heart, dear, forgiving your enemies. Surely it's a sign of your noble parentage." Gold tut-tutted.

The man had clucked his tongue and his flippancy made Emma's anger rise fast. "Fuck you." She fisted her hand on the counter. "Your use of me or Regina ends here and now. Don't think I've forgotten how you made me go on your dragon quest for the damned potion that wasn't needed anyway."

"But you saved your son. Twice now," he replied. "I'd say if I've contributed anything, it has been to strengthen the bonds between parent and child." He looked up at her. "And his mothers, perhaps?"

Emma blinked as yet another twist occurred to her. Rumpelstiltskin had diagnosed Regina's pregnancy in Neverland. She narrowed her eyes at him and demanded, "Do _you_ have something to do with why Regina's pregnant?"

He shook his head. "Alas, dearie, I was merely the messenger. _You_," he flourished, "did _that_ all on your own. Quite..." He licked his lips and trailed off to silence.

She guessed he had truly been surprised. _Good_, she thought. Something had happened that wasn't part of his plans. "Well, I intend to keep doing it. She, Henry, and that baby are my _family_. Got it?"

"I do believe I 'got it', Sheriff," he replied with forced flippancy. Emma recognized something about her _did_ intimidate him. The only thing she could think that might be was her magic.

She resolved to become an expert in magic use quickly. Otherwise, she was certain, she would have no way of backing up her promises to protect her family from the Dark One. A lifetime of disbelief in magic and the rapid-fire events which had collided with that belief in only a few months' time started a twisting unease in her gut that turned her stomach sour. Her intended scowl morphed into a reflexive swallow.

Before the urge to throw up could worsen and reveal weakness, Emma turned her back on Gold and walked toward the door. Once she had opened it to the street, she turned back.

"We're done here."

Out on the sidewalk, Emma inhaled and exhaled the brisk March air. The cold of it cooled the anger in her veins. Pulling out her phone and selecting a number, Emma started walking away from the shop.

"Emma?" On the other end of the line Regina sounded strained.

"Hi," she began. "I just wanted to… touch base, I guess. Just left Gold's shop."

"What did the imp want?" Regina asked.

Though the words were her usual biting phrase regarding Rumplestiltskin, Emma still heard and felt the brunette's discomfort.

"Are you alright?" Emma asked.

She easily heard Regina's exhale through the line. "Yes, I... I lost my breakfast."

_Damn_. she thought they had handled that. She rubbed her own stomach and wondered if some of her discomfort had been Regina's. "You threw up again? What happened?"

"The Blue Fairy."

"She try to spring some magic on you?"

"I could have handled that. No, it's this inane Miner's Day. Some adjustments she wanted made to the candle sales. Gave me a headache." But Regina's mind went quickly back to Gold. "What did Gold want?"

"Gold gives me the same sort of headaches. He claimed he'd been robbed so I went over to make a report. There was no break-in, nothing stolen. Nothing even damaged. He wanted to tease out some information about Neal seeing Henry, or maybe it was just how we're doing?"

"That imp only cares what we're doing if it serves him."

"Yeah. I told him to back off." Emma rubbed her forehead. "Anyway, I'm going to continue my rounds."

"Be careful." _I love you._

"Don't work too hard," Emma replied. _I love you too._

Though unable to hear the conversation the blonde was having on her phone, Gold watched her. He smiled when he felt the crystal in his pocket vibrate, absorbing another jolt of magical energy from its sources. _So she'd been talking to Regina. Good._ Gold patted his pocket and smiled. "Always a pleasure doing business with you. Savior."

###


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Longest chapter to date. Lots going on. I hope you enjoy.

Mercifully alone in silence, Regina walked back to her office down the hall from the city council conference room. The men and women of the planning committee continued to argue over the many budget items. Deciding she really didn't need to suffer through this, she told them to come to some sort of agreement then get back with her. Regina sipped at a paper cup of ginger and orange tea. The sour taste from her earlier stomach upset had finally passed, and her stomach now grumbled hungrily for lunch.

Entering her outer office and approaching her assistant, Regina said, "Please call Granny's and have a salad delivered."

"Your usual grilled chicken salad, Madam Mayor?" Jeremy queried while he picked up his phone receiver.

Regina nodded. "That will do. However, please request ranch dressing instead of oil and vinegar."

"Certainly, ma'am. I'll bring it in to you when it's here."

"I'm going to step down to the park for a few minutes. Clear my head."

"After that meeting, may I say I'm not surprised?" She returned Jeremy's smile. He added, "I'll find you in about thirty minutes?"

"Thank you."

Taking her coat from her office rack, Regina headed for the staircase leading down to the back of the city hall property. She stepped out a little used stairwell exit onto a well-maintained public park. Spread out before her was a bucolic piece of earth with a sprawling pond, walking, jogging, and biking paths weaving over and around its many fingers. Stands of trees shaded benches. The breeze mildly chilled her face, but the sunshine from the cloudless sky pleasantly lifted her spirits. Tucking her hands inside her pockets she walked slowly, breathing deeply and evenly.

Lacing her fingers across her belly she focused inward, touching the essence that was a mix of her and Emma: their baby. Starting as a flutter, then seeming like a blossoming flower or flow, like a stream, Regina felt the child making her presence known distinctly. _Hello there, my darling_. She circled her fingers on her belly. Slowly she walked around the lake, letting herself lose track of time.

The crunch of leaves under her shoes gradually broke through her reverie and she was reminded she wore heels not meant for long leisurely outdoor walks. She settled to a bench. Heels in her hands, her stockinged feet tingled a little against the cool concrete. Regina watched the breeze creating waves and dappling the sunlight on the pond's surface.

Standing, she left the shoes on the bench and walked, barefoot onto the small deck that had been constructed partially out over the water. Leaning on the railing, she stared down, the refraction of light showing her own reflection among small schools of fish and a turtle lazily swimming past. She inhaled again, this time filling her lungs with the scents of pine and grasses, oak and… She paused in cataloging the scents and turned to see a hot dog vendor wheeling a white metal cart onto another deck near the water. Preschool children rumbled up from their mats. Their minder, a lean young man in dark blue sweats, set aside a book and followed the group of six children, a mix of boys and girls about four years old.

She watched the group transact for their hot dogs and small cartons of milk then walk back over to their mats and resume their seats. It was a scene of simple laughter. Regina recalled the days when she would take Henry to these supervised groups. She herself had never gone to such things. Her mother would never have allowed it. So it had been a bit of posthumous rebellion to make certain her son never lacked for playmates or story time.

"Madam Mayor, here's your lunch."

Regina turned away from the scene and smiled at Jeremy bringing a bag.

"There's plastic utensils in the bag. I didn't know what you'd want to drink, so I just asked for water, with lemon."

"Thank you, Jeremy." Walking back to the bench, Regina closed her eyes as her feet sank into the soil and grass.

"You-you're not wearing shoes," he observed.

"Good catch," she said wryly as she sat down.

"I...I'm sorry. That was… It's just a surprise. I've never known you to take off your shoes."

Regina looked up at Jeremy standing carefully so he didn't force her to look into the sun. "I should do it more often." She smiled.

Jeremy's eyes widened in surprise that he'd been blessed with a secret, then he glanced around quickly. "I promise not to tell anyone."

"Thank you." Her assistant started to walk back up the path to city hall. When he paused, Regina looked up from opening the bag of lunch items. "Something else?"

"Ma'am, are you going to return to the office after lunch?"

"Yes."

He looked up at the bright blue cloudless sky and around at the lake. "It's a nice day though. I could...forward calls to your cell."

Taking a moment to consider while she opened the plastic clamshell containing her salad, Regina finally decided she needed this, open air, open space more than maintaining her workaholic image. "Thank you."

His smile again was as she had gifted him something wonderful. "Enjoy the afternoon, ma'am." He dipped his head toward her and took a step back. It was not a bow, but very, very close. Regina smiled in amusement. 

"Thank you, Jeremy."

* * *

At the end of the school day, Snow read her phone messages. The one from the Blue Fairy prompted a quick return call.

"Are you certain?" Snow asked.

"As much as I can be," the Blue Fairy responded. "All magic has a unique aspect, something that separates each being's from another's. Regina contains two distinct ones at this time. I can only presume one is hers, and the other belongs to the child."

"Is the baby Emma's?"

"I cannot conclude that without another opportunity to closely examine the Savior's magic."

"What do you need to confirm the magic source?" Snow asked.

"I would need all of them together to be able to make a conclusive determination."

Snow considered her options. "What if I could get them together in a public place? How close would you need to be to conduct the test?"

"The Queen is wary of me, and may be even more reluctant following our meeting today. She is not unintelligent and may yet connect her body's adverse reaction to my presence. However, I must be very close."

"I will contact you with a time and place as soon as possible," Snow said. "Thank you."

"You're welcome."

Snow ended the call and looked up from her shadowed corner by the school building. At the far end of the walk, Henry was walking up to Regina, talking to her animatedly about his school day.

"Regina!" Snow called.

The older woman looked up from placing her hand on Henry's shoulder. "What do you want, Snow?"

"I…" Thinking quickly she invited, "Would you join us for dinner at the diner tonight?"

The brunette's brown eyes flashed warily. "Tonight?"

"I… It's time to figure out where we all go from here. Wouldn't you agree?"

"Why?" Regina's tone was flat.

"Isn't that what family is supposed to do?"

"Maybe we should, Mom?" Henry suggested.

Snow resisted the urge to hug her grandson for helping.

"This dinner is for Emma, Henry... and me?" Regina clarified.

"Yes." Snow nodded. She would have to call David at the station next to change their plans from burgers on the grill.

Regina looked at Henry uncertainly but when he took her hand, she smiled gently. Snow resented the woman's easiness with her son, but quickly schooled her expression into a smile when Regina cleared her throat and asked, "What time would you like to meet?"

"Let's say six o'clock?" Snow suggested. "That will give both Emma and David time to clean up after work."

Regina had pursed her lips, but seeing Henry's broad smile, she finally agreed. "Granny's then, at six."

"Thanks, Grams," Henry added.

Snow pursed her lips at the nickname, disturbed by the annoyance she felt. She'd never felt annoyed by him when he was her student. But that reminded her of the curse and... She forced herself to smile quickly. "David and I look forward to seeing you tonight, Henry."

Snow hurried away from Regina and Henry. Once at a safe distance, she lifted her phone to her ear. David first, then Blue.

"Hi, David," she greeted. She told him of the planned dinner, confident now that they would save their daughter from the Evil Queen's plans to take her away after they already lost 28 years.

* * *

Still processing, Regina didn't move after Snow walked away. Then the hand in hers moved. "This is great," Henry said. "Call Ma," he added, pushing upward on her phone in her hand.

After pressing the quick-dial button for Emma, Regina lifted her phone to her ear.

"Regina, hey." Emma's voice resounded reassuringly through the line.

She held her palm lightly over her stomach and tremulously smiled. "Good afternoon, Emma. Do you have a minute to discuss dinner?"

"Dinner? What's up?"

"Your mother has invited us to dine with them at Granny's."

"Us? Tonight?" Regina heard commotion beyond Emma. Then Emma came back on the line. "Oh, okay. David just got the same news from Mary Margaret. Yeah. You want to go?"

"I called to ask you the same thing."

"If a few family dinners is what it takes to get MM to accept this, I'll do it," Emma said.

"I'm not as certain," Regina admitted.

"You won't be alone. Together we can handle it."

As a result of Emma's confidence some of the tension leached from Regina's neck and shoulders. "All right. The time is six o'clock."

"I'll be there," Emma assured.

"Thank you. Would you like to talk with Henry for a minute before returning to work?"

"Yeah, give him the phone."

"It's Emma," Regina prompted, holding her phone out.

"Hey, Ma," Henry said. After listening a moment, he added, "Yeah, I do." Another beat. "Okay." He handed the phone back to Regina.

"Emma?"

"Henry's going to stick with you for the rest of the afternoon, okay? I'm on the other side of Storybrooke for a while. We've got a call out here for a missing person."

Regina frowned. "Who's missing?"

"Some guy named Tom."

The name didn't mean anything to Regina. Her curse had caught up so many people though, that shouldn't surprise her. "Tell me everything when you get here?" she requested.

"Of course," Emma agreed. "See you a little before six. At the office?"

"Perhaps meet us in the park instead?"

"Yeah? OK. Sure."

"Emma?" She hesitated with a glance toward Henry. Yes, she was beginning to feel like she and Emma were partners, but speaking of her feelings in front of Henry still felt awkward.

Her silence had gone on too long. "Regina, I've got your back, okay?"

"Thank you," she concluded.

Emma ended the call first and Regina put her phone in her pocket.

"Everything all right with Ma?" Henry asked.

"Yes," Regina answered. "Since we are going to Granny's for dinner, how about we take a walk to the park?"

He smiled up at her. "Sure."

* * *

Emma pulled the bug into a space at Storybrooke Municipal Park. Even still behind the wheel, she could see most of the park, and the people strolling around it. She smiled when she spotted two brunette heads, Regina's and Henry's, bent together where they sat on a bench near the pond's edge. Getting out of her car, Emma walked quickly toward the pair and saw they were tossing food pellets birds from a small bag in Regina's hands.

Regina was smiling one of her soft indulgent smiles as she advised Henry on tossing the pellets closer to the fluffy yellow ducklings. Her brown eyes sparkled with reflections of sunlight off the nearby pond, and her hair was being lifted off her neck by the light breeze.

"Hey," Emma announced herself.

Regina turned as Henry leaped up from the bench. "Ma!" He hugged her.

Putting her arms around his shoulder, Emma said, "Hi, kid, how was school?"

"Good. We're learning archery in gym this week."

"Archery, hmm? Who's your instructor, Robin Hood?"

"No, Coach Tell."

Emma chuckled. "Is his first name William?"

Regina rolled her eyes.

"No," Henry said. "Coach's first name is Mark, I think."

"Ah, well, good," Emma said.

"We should go," Regina said, starting to stand.

"Sit." _Besides I want a few minutes just cozy together_, she thought_._ "We got a few minutes yet. Granny's is just across the street." She sat down next to Regina, hip to hip. Their close contact made Regina blush. With a pleased smile, Emma lifted the bag of pellets from Regina's hands and tossed a few toward a cluster of ducks in the shade of an oak. The ducks started waddling toward them, seeking the source.

Henry sat back down on the far side of the bench. Regina cleared her throat and met Emma's gaze, brown eyes warm. "Tell me about your missing person?" she asked.

Though she was strongly thinking about kissing Regina, Emma managed to shrug and remember Henry was right there. "Haven't found him yet, but we're following one of the hiking trails north of town into the foothills. His wife reported him missing. Hasn't returned from a hunting trip she said he goes on every spring."

"Shouldn't you still be out looking?"

Emma tossed another few pellets and wryly laughed at a duck squawking indignantly at her because she'd tossed it past his head. "The searchers are going until dark, but he's an adult. He's actually only been gone only one day. Most guys I know, and David backed me up, will go hunting for a solid week. I think we're just dealing with a guy who doesn't want to come home to his wife's harping."

"Is she?"

"Yeah." Emma handed the bag over to Henry and then leaned back against the bench, looking directly at Regina. "Four kids; she doesn't work that I can tell. The house is kind of crazy," Emma said. "She also acted more angry than worried: 'he should be home helping out, not playing in the woods like a child'," she said, in a fair mimic of a harangue.

Regina winced. "I see."

"David and I will pick it up again in the morning. Though I really don't think it's anything to worry about." Emma saw Henry emptying the last of the bag directly over the group of ducks. "Looks like the ducks are fed. Are you ready for dinner?"

"No." Regina's initial reply was short but as she stood up, adjusting her skirt and blazer, she added, "But it's your family."

Emma smiled and reached for Regina's hand to help her stand. "Thank you." She called Henry over. "Let's go, kid. Time to go eat."

As they walked, Emma asked, "So Mary Margaret just came up and asked you."

"Mom was picking me up at school."

"Did she say why she wanted to have dinner?"

"She stated she felt it was time to figure out where we go from here," Regina replied. "Your mother is quite transparent."

"So you think she's accepted that we're having a baby?"

"You said yourself it is going to be obvious in just a few weeks."

Henry grasped Emma's hand. "I told you that Snow White would understand because it's True Love."

Emma nodded at the Mother Superior entering the park, just as she, Henry and Regina were exiting. They were paused waiting for the walk signal to cross Main Street when she saw the woman standing by a bench and lifting something out of her large blue bag.

The walk signal started beeping and Henry stepped first onto the crosswalk. She was reaching for Regina's hand when the brunette bent slightly and grasped her stomach. Her grip tightened painfully on Emma's fingers, too.

"Hey, whoa, you okay?" Emma held Regina by the shoulders, and pulled her into her side to help her straighten. "Cramps?"

"I… yes. I…" Regina's breath had been stolen by the pain.

"Just breathe. I'll stay right here." Regina's hand gripped Emma's painfully again. Emma rubbed her back and shoulder.

Henry had already reached the other side of the street and turned to look back.

Emma waved him on. "We're fine. Go on inside to your grandparents."

Regina finally exhaled and straightened. "I-I'm all right." She brushed her hair from her cheeks. "I have no idea what came over me."

"Nausea? Or just cramps?"

"No nausea," Regina said. "Cramps. They're gone now."

"Still, keep dinner light. Maybe it's been too long since you had lunch." Emma brushed at an itch on her sternum then reached for Regina's hand to cross the street. "What did you get anyway?"

"Jeremy brought me a chicken salad while I sat outside here."

"Chicken? Maybe it was underdone? With Henry, I was very sensitive to undercooked food, or anything near spoiling."

"Well, I feel fine now."

"Okay." Stymied, Emma quietly walked alongside the brunette up the sidewalk to Granny's Diner.

* * *

"Good evening, Henry," Snow White greeted Henry as he was lowering his backpack and taking off his coat. She kissed his cheek and he smiled up at her, appreciative of her making the big gesture of inviting his moms - both of them - to dinner.

"Champ," his grandfather, David, greeted.

Henry managed to duck the attempt to ruffle his hair. "Hey. Mom and Ma are outside still crossing the street. Said they'd be a minute."

"Oh?" Snow dipped her head and shifted herself trying to look out the front windows of the diner. "Everything all right?"

"Mom had a cramp or something." Henry shrugged. "Ma said I should wait with you."

With a hand to his shoulder, Snow guided Henry to a table on the far side of the diner, against the wall. "We've already ordered drinks," Snow said. "Milk for you, over there." She pointed to a chair that David was now pulling out.

"Guys on one side, eh, Henry?"

Henry started to sit when he heard the bell ring signalling another arrival at the diner. "Hey, Mom, Ma!" he called. "Over here."

Emma took his mom's coat then pulled her own off her shoulders and folded them both over her forearm. "Hi, guys," Emma greeted.

"Emma, it's so good to see you," Snow gushed. Emma accepted the hug, but her face held an awkward smile.

"Yeah," his mom said, settling into the chair at the end of the table, next to him. "Henry," she quickly added, with a warm smile. She leaned over and kissed his cheek.

He felt her hand pat his thigh, a calming gesture. He was fine, so he guessed that she was probably doing it for her own benefit. When she returned his smile again, Henry was glad he was there. Emma sat down in the chair opposite his to Regina's right, which left Snow to sit next to David.

Eyes moved around from person to person, no one talking, no one really moving. Henry looked away from the table and caught Ruby studying them from a nearby table. When she realized he was looking at her, she quickly straightened, withdrew her order pad from her pocket, and walked over to their table.

"Hey, guys, what can I get you tonight?" Ruby asked. When no one answered. "Start with drinks?"

David and Snow looked at theirs already on the table, something light-colored and carbonated. Henry looked at his milk. Regina looked up at Ruby. "Um, something caffeine free?"

Emma nodded. "Same for me. Whatever."

Ruby put her pad back in her apron pocket. "Be right back," she said then turned around and walked away.

Snow finally spoke. "So, um… Regina, how… was your day?"

Henry saw his mothers exchanging glances. Then his mom spoke. "Everything is now in order for the Miner's Day celebration."

Snow nodded. "Um, Emma, David tells me you're looking for a missing person?"

"Yeah, Tom Digitalis," Ma answered. "We'll keep looking at first light tomorrow."

"You're not worried?" Snow asked.

"No, there's no sign of foul play, just a guy wanting to get away from home for a while."

"Oh."

"Here you go," Ruby said, walking up.

Without a word, Emma reached up and took her and Mom's glasses right off Ruby's tray. Putting one in front of Mom, Emma tapped the straw out of its paper and took a quick sip of the other. Sighing she put the glass back down. "Water, with lemon."

"Yeah," Ruby said. "No caffeine."

Emma pursed her lips but nodded. "Right. Thanks."

"You ready to order?"

While the adults around him looked at their menus, Henry requested, "Could I have a cheeseburger with the works? And wedge fries?"

"Sure thing." Ruby wrote quickly.

When her gaze returned to the table, David said, "Hunter stew and mashed potatoes."

His mom requested, "Soup of the day, I think, and a… grilled cheese."

"Grilled cheese sounds great," Emma said. "Make that two."

Snow stared at his mother for several silent seconds. Henry bit his lip. His mom looked away first, her eyes seeking out Emma.

"Snow?" Ruby prompted.

"Sorry. Yes, mmm, Reuben. Please," Snow said.

After writing down the last order, Ruby asked, "Anything else?" She looked around to everyone at the table. One by one they shook their heads. "All right. Back in a few minutes."

A phone beeped. All four adults looked down at their phones. Henry saw Snow's screen had lit up before she took it below the edge of the table.

A moment later, Snow looked up, her mouth open slightly as she turned toward Emma. Henry couldn't interpret her expression but abruptly her mouth closed. "Em, I… So, you… It's been a couple weeks since you moved out. I was cleaning out the loft yesterday."

"Did I leave something behind?" Emma asked.

Snow shook her head. "No, I...wondered... Do you want your old bed?"

"No, I've got one." Emma looked at Regina; both their cheeks shaded pink.

Clattering her chair legs on the floor, Snow quickly stood. "I have to--the ladies room, excuse me." She pushed past Emma's chair and was gone to the back of the diner out of sight in just a few seconds.

"So, um…" David looked from Regina to Emma then to Henry. "Henry, how was school?" he asked.

Henry started by recounting his morning's math lesson.

* * *

Regina settled onto her vanity stool and exhaled while reaching down to roll off her stockings, the memory of cramping pain making her careful. She rubbed her feet, noticing they were slightly swollen. Her calves, too. Then she tossed the stockings into her wooden clothing hamper. The stockings landed across one of Emma's white tank tops half-draped over the side and the sight of the two items made Regina smile.

Out in the hallway, Emma and Henry were talking. Closing her eyes she indulged in the happiness she heard in their voices.

"I'm glad you're here, Ma."

"Me too, kid."

"You gonna check on Mom?"

"Yeah."

"You gonna stay with Mom?" Regina's eyes popped open as her son's tone became teasing.

Regina felt Emma's embarrassment and heard her inner debate about how much to explain. She tucked her hand across her abdomen and sent Emma a thought: _Go ahead_.

"Okay," Emma began. "You know your mom's been having really bad morning sickness?"

"Yeah." Henry's tone was curious.

"Apparently the baby is magic or has magic, or takes it maybe. I'm not sure. Anyway, your mom feels better if the baby can get more from me instead of her."

"Was that what was happening in the park? The baby was taking magic from Mom?"

"I don't know, kid, and I'd like to find out, but the two people who know the most about magic are... well, Regina and I don't really trust them all that much."

"Rumplestiltskin? Who else?"

"The Blue Fairy," Emma said. "Regina's been mistreated by both of them in the past. So I'm not going to give either of them a chance to mess with her now."

"Mom and the baby are going to be okay, right?"

"I'm doing everything I can, kid, yeah."

"Okay." There were sounds of feet shifting and clothes rustling which made it clear Emma and Henry were hugging. Regina stood and smiled even as she wiped her eyes clear of tears.

"G'night, Ma," Henry said to Emma. He called out, clearly to reach Regina, "Good night, Mom!"

Regina opened her bedroom door, leaned on the jamb, and smiled at her son. "Good night, Henry. Sleep well."

He hurried across and hugged her. Quickly he returned to his room and shut the door. Beneath the door, she saw the light go out.

"So you're going to protect me from Rumple and the Blue Fairy?" Regina asked, looking at Emma who stepped closer. "Two of the most powerful magic beings in our world?"

"Gold's definitely got something up his sleeve about this, I'm sure of it." Emma leaned on the other side of the doorway and crossed her arms. "And the Blue Fairy is … I don't know. She crossed our path in the park. And you said she'd come to your office. Both times suddenly you felt something weird. I don't trust them."

"I can handle the Blue Gnat," Regina insisted.

Emma tilted her head against the jamb, green eyes warm but assessing as she studied Regina. "Any more cramps?"

"Cramps, headaches, nausea, and now swelling," Regina complained lightly, nodding toward her feet.

"Must not be too bad though. You're smiling." Emma eased herself into the doorway and nudged Regina backward. Closing the door to the hallway, she shut them in. Together. Alone. "This okay?"

Regina continued smiling; her belly was filling with the now familiar desire to connect with Emma. This magic-sharing was a heady thing. She felt a little wildness speed the rush of blood through her veins and flexed her palms on Emma's shoulders.

_Lust_, she thought.

_Oh yeah_, Emma answered.

Almost immediately, the blonde's magic started to get under her skin. Regina hummed and tugged at Emma's shirt, wanting to be skin to skin quickly.

"I guess baby wants some." Emma laughed and her green eyes sparkled with magic while she helped Regina undress her.

Regina inhaled and her head swam while Emma's magic spread through her chest and then sank warm and full into her belly. She acknowledged the flutter of their baby's consciousness awakening while Emma and she moved onto the bed, mouths and hands seeking every taste of connection.

"Mmm, love how you feel." Emma hummed against Regina's throat sliding her leg over Regina's calf and then applying her fingertips in swirls on Regina's breasts, teasing the nipples turgid.

"Mmm," Regina hummed into a kiss then grasped Emma's warm fingers and pressed the woman's palm to the top of her mound. "Touch me," Regina murmured into Emma's ear.

Emma rolled Regina over and pulled her upright, arms wrapped around her, one hand on her breast and the other teased through the hairs covering Regina's sex.

Regina pressed her back into Emma's chest, feeling the powerful thumping of Emma's heart. She surged in Emma's hands and gasped when teeth grazed her shoulder. "Em!"

"Yeah?" Emma's fingers teased Regina's clit. Then her honey warm voice murmured in Regina's ear, "You're soaked." Regina's hips jerked and her center pulsed with want. Emma slid her fingers away from Regina's most sensitive point.

"Emma," Regina choked on a helpless cry. She was so, so close…

"There you are, baby," Emma said as she returned with a caress that finished with two fingers pressed deeply inside. "There you go."

When Regina came white light burst behind her eyelids. Her entire body quaked, throbbing around Emma's fingers. Her toes curled and her chest expanded with a cry she stifled by grabbing and cramming a pillow into her face. Her pulse pounded in her throat against Emma's lips kissing her again while she sank bonelessly into the sheets.

Emma remained fully pressed against her back, knees even tucked up under her thighs, but the blonde's weight rested on the bed next to her. Naked and warm, Regina had no idea where either of them began or ended. 

In her head she envisioned turning over and reciprocating. She mumbled into the pillow. "My turn."

At the same time exhaustion pulled on her limbs and her eyelids refused to open.

"In the morning," Emma murmured. "You can have your turn tomorrow."

"Mmm hmm." Regina stretched then curled back into Emma's body, aware she was already mostly asleep.

"Good night, Regina," Emma kissed the ridge of her shoulder and pressed her cheek into Regina's back.

###


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _The shortest chapter (sorry). A bit of transitioning I needed to do for the plot pacing. I'll post chapter 17 in a few minutes._

A few days later, Snow sat again in the convent office of the Blue Fairy. The dinner had been awkward but she had been assured that the Blue Fairy had gotten a complete read on Emma, Regina, and the baby.

"It's true then," Snow said.

Blue sat back and put her hands on the arms of her plushly padded leather chair. "Yes. Impossible as it should be, the child Regina carries _is _Emma's. The Savior's magic signature is unmistakable, and apparently the closer she and Regina are, she can block other magic from reaching the baby."

"So you said." Earnestly, Snow repeated what she had understood to have happened. "When you tried to read Regina again in the park Emma got in the way."

"I could read her magic, but neither Regina's, nor the baby's." The fairy frowned. "Like lead shielding blocks x-rays."

Snow fretted; she didn't want Emma to be angry at her. "Do you think Emma knew what you were doing?"

The Blue Fairy shook her head. "I doubt it. While it is clear Emma has more control than she did before the trip to Neverland, her magic signature has few subtleties of a trained user. She is still governed mostly by emotions."

Snow sighed. "It worries me."

"What?"

"How close Emma and Regina are. Emma claims that Regina is redeemed. I agreed she helped us in Neverland, but redemption… is that even possible?"

"The Evil Queen's list of crimes is lengthy and her heart was blackened by all of it."

"So, no?"

"It's never happened before," the Blue Fairy said. "She may love. She may even do good deeds, but using dark magic leaves permanent marks."

Snow pressed her hand over her chest. "The mark I got on mine for my role in Cora's death."

The Blue Fairy nodded. "Just so."

Snow was quiet for a long time. Into the silence, she received a text. She glanced at the screen. _David_. Slowly she got to her feet. "I have to go."

The Blue Fairy stood. "You still seem anxious."

Snow asked the only question she could formulate with her mind spinning so fast, "Does the baby have Regina's darkness?"

"From the brief encounter in the mayor's office I can say yes. She also has Emma's light."

"Can those exist together?"

"The Darkness is always hungry," the Blue Fairy said. "But the Light is the only thing that can defeat it."

At the door, Snow sighed and turned back to look at the Blue Fairy who had always been able to give her hope. "I just want my child safe."

The Blue Fairy's smile reassured Snow. "For now she is."

* * *

Rumple removed his wool coat inside the doorway of his home, lifting a few things from its pockets before setting it on the rack. Transferring a crystal to the inside pocket of his suit coat with shaking hand, he jumped at a clatter. Pausing his movements and turning around, he finally heard Belle haltingly talking with Bae as more dishware clattered. He exhaled with relief and removed his hand from his pocket, patting the outside.

Stepping through the sitting room, he entered the kitchen. "Oh, Rumple," Belle greeted him warmly. "Dinner's almost ready."

"Thank you." Rumple smiled as she kissed his cheek. "Bae," he greeted his son, who stood back holding a small stack of dishes and silver.

"Papa."

He invited his son, "Come have a drink with me before we sit?"

"Yes, you two go," Belle encouraged. "I'll call when it's on the table."

"Thank you, my dear." Without seeing if Bae followed, Rumple stepped back out of the kitchen.

He stood by the drinks cabinet and lifted a cork from the decanter of brandy. "How was your day?"

"Quiet," his son said. The long silence made Rumple's heart sink. "I've been thinking I should probably head out."

"What about spending time with...Henry?"

"The kid's still in school most of the day. I also think I've tapped out on any good will with his mothers."

Rumple sipped from his brandy and sat down. "What about Miss Swan?"

Bae sat in a chair opposite. "We've talked about this before, Papa. Regina is Henry's mother. Emma's his mother. I'm-"

"You are his father."

"Yeah. Henry's an amazing kid." Bae grinned widely as he spoke. "More of a student than I was. That kid's gonna go places. Good places."

"You should be his guide out there."

Bae canted his head like he was finally considering the idea. "Maybe." But then he abruptly shook his head. "But Regina and Emma would never go for it."

"They're going to be busy with a new child soon," Rumple said.

"You know about that? Henry told me."

"So, you see, Henry will need your attention as his mothers' will be elsewhere."

"Maybe. Okay, I'll talk with Emma when I see her next."

"When will that be?"

"I'll text her that I need to talk to her."

Rumple was unable to press his point further; at that moment Belle stepped into the sitting room and announced dinner. He followed her into the dining room with his son Bae on his heels.

# # #


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _Our ladies experience another milestone in the pregnancy: sonogram day for Swan-Mills baby._

Regina folded her long coat in her lap as she she sat down in the waiting room at Storybrooke Hospital. Around her were sniffling and sneezing residents. Trying to avoid their germs, she hunched away from them near the doors. She glanced frequently at the doorway, looking for Emma who had promised to be here. As a particularly loud sneeze made her jump, Regina glared at the offender, who sat down meekly. In the last several weeks, though always meticulous about cleanliness, she had begun using an antibacterial disinfectant around the house and office. She insisted Henry and Emma use the downstairs bathroom before coming any further into the house each day. She sighed as she remembered Emma's eye rolls that morning as she refused to accept a kiss because the blonde had wiped her hands only with napkins, not antiseptic wipes, following breakfast.

She did miss the blonde's hugs. But the baby's safety had to come first.

"We're ready for you, Madam Mayor." Whale appeared in the doorway holding a chart folder.

Standing, she immediately stalked over to him. "I demand a flu vaccination."

"We'll do a couple tests first. Then I'll be happy to do that. But," he paused with a grin. "Today's picture day."

Regina paled. "Picture day?"

"If you'll come with me?"

The doors to Storybrooke Hospital swung open and Emma stumbled inside. She pulled off her wool beanie and red jacket, tucking both quickly under her arm. She spotted Regina and Whale by the open door. "Hey! Here I am."

"Sheriff Swan?"

"Is coming with me," Regina finished flatly. She glared at Emma to convey her anger that the woman had almost been too late.

"Sorry, booking a thief," Emma said.

"Later," Regina insisted. She turned to Whale. "Lead the way."

In the corridor, alone but for Dr. Whale, Emma leaned close to Regina's ear. "Sorry, really. But I'm here now."

"Please wipe your hands. Dr. Whale said there are to be pictures today."

Emma accepted the antiseptic wipe with a frown, but then smiled as they continued to follow Whale. "Yeah? That's probably gonna be a sonogram. We've seen some pictures like that."

"On the internet. These would be of me."

"Not _you_, inside you," Emma said. "I didn't keep any of Henry's though the technicians kept offering them."

Regina teared up at the reminder of Emma's hard pregnancy with Henry and reached out to take the blonde's hand, feeling immensely happy that Emma was here.

Emma smiled back, wiping a falling tear from Regina's cheek. Regina felt relief at the touch and resisted the urge to use a wipe on her face.

"Those better be happy tears," Emma said. The blonde had been getting used to simply cleaning up after Regina's emotional rollercoasters, whether it was happy tears, sad tears, rage tears. She brushed them all away.

"If we are offered pictures today," Regina murmured, "you will keep them." Exhaling and taking Emma's hand, Regina focused on green eyes, determined to bring comfort. She absently brushed Emma's knuckles with her lips, her heart catching at Emma's surprised smile just as Whale arrived a door.

"Regina. Emma." Blandly all business, Whale instructed, "The machine is through here. A nurse will help Regina with her clothes. I will be in momentarily to conduct the examination."

Regina pushed open the door with Emma on her heels. The same nurse from her appointment confirming the pregnancy stood beside a steel cart bearing a large monitor with dials and what looked to be small paddles on the ends of cables.

"This is a sonogram machine," the nurse explained. "It'll give us a good look at the baby's development."

Relying on her factual knowledge to keep her nerves at bay, Regina stated. "She is only two inches long."

"Could be bigger or smaller, but any case it's time we get a good look. Certainly you've noticed you're a little rounder."

Regina had. Her preferred slacks no longer fit. Rather than purchase new clothes since she wasn't ready for the maternity clothes Emma claimed would be her preference later - she wore skirts that rested above her waistline. Regina had also switched to soft cup bras which conformed to her different shape and silk pullover blouses gave her a sleek appearance while also giving her plenty of room. Her preferred vests for the office did not button closed any longer, but she continued to wear them frequently because Emma said she looked "rakish" wearing them.

"Remove your skirt and we can just tug up your blouse," the nurse said. "There's a sheet to cover your legs."

Emma took Regina's things and set them on a chair against the wall with her own coat. Standing in blouse and underwear, Regina turned to lift herself backwards onto the exam chair and saw Emma nibbling her lip. She was smirking though and Regina heard an appreciative _dat ass_ from the blonde's thoughts.

"Need some help onto the chair, Regina?"

"No thank you, but you should bring over something to sit."

The nurse looked surprised. "Oh, is the Sheriff going to be your birthing partner?"

"Emma is the baby's other parent," Regina said.

The nurse appeared confused by the information. "I didn't see any IVF info in your file," she said. "Did you have the procedure out of town?"

"_Way_ out of town." Emma chuckled.

"Oh. Well, congratulations then. I'll step out and tell Dr. Whale you're ready."

"Thank you."

When the nurse was gone, Emma said, "That explanation certainly chilled her out quick. Maybe we won't need to mention magic."

Regina tried to relax back in the chair adjusting the sheet on her legs. Emma stood at her shoulder, looking down at her face and smiling as she laid her hand softly against Regina's abdomen. Emma's fingers slipped over Regina's belly which was quite pronounced in this position, then beneath the waistband of the underwear. Regina's libido stirred.

"I do not need your magic fingers right now," Regina replied, easing Emma's fingers aside so she wouldn't become aroused in a situation where she couldn't do anything about it.

"No fun," Emma teased.

"I was a great deal of fun this morning," Regina replied. "A certain someone begging me to let her cum in the shower."

Emma looked over her shoulder quickly before bending forward and pressing her lips quickly to Regina's. "And you did. Thank you."

"My pleasure."

A knock sounded at the door. "Come in," Regina said. Emma took a step back.

Dr. Whale poked his head around, spotted them and entered, closing the door behind him. "Ready?"

"Yes."

Dr. Whale sat down on a round stool between the cart and monitor and the exam chair. Business-like he turned it on and applied a clear gel to the paddle end of one cable. "This could feel cold," he said. "But it will make the pictures clearer."

"What are we looking for?" Regina asked.

"Ears, eyes, fingers, toes. I'll also take measurements of limbs and overall length. That will allow us to judge if the baby is developing appropriately." His palm slid onto her thigh.

Regina took Emma's hand and looked away from Dr. Whale. "Just get on with it."

Whale looked between Emma and Regina. "Something wrong?"

"I'm fine." She wasn't. Emma's gaze bore into her, compelling her to tell the truth. "Leopold's court physician examined me several times." She had felt demeaned and degraded after every one, until she took the potion.

Emma grasped her hand reassuringly. Regina held Emma's gaze as the cold gel and cool instrument began moving over her abdomen. Gradually, past her own heartbeat thrumming in her ears, she heard something else. _Is that?_

_Yeah_. Emma's thoughts made her turn toward the monitor.

Whale's voice broke the silence. "Take a look."

Regina looked at the monitor and her hand squeezed Emma's. "Oh my god," she whispered reverently.

The strong rhythmic sound filling the small room was their baby's heartbeat. Dr. Whale prodded a spot near Regina's belly button. The heartbeat sped up briefly before slowing down again.

"All right, so now that we've found you, let's get a look," Dr. Whale said. The paddle moved across Regina's abdomen and the black and white staticky image on the monitor jumped and swirled.

Whale suddenly exclaimed, "There!"

The staticky image smoothed out. A small spot on the screen expanded and contracted in time with the heartbeat they were hearing.

"That's the heart," the doctor said unnecessarily.

Emma's fingers slackened in Regina's hand. Regina tried to compare the images she was seeing to the images they had studied online. A curve seemed prominent. "Is that her head?"

"Yes, and you can see the spine extending below that. Currently she's got her back to us, being shy," Dr. Whale said. "If it's a she, anyway."

"I know it is," Emma said.

"Well, I have a preference for scientific fact," Dr. Whale said. "Magic conception or not, your pregnancy is still very much in the realm of medicine and science. Babies, even magic ones, cannot grow overnight."

Regina nodded and squeezed Emma's fingers. "All right. So, can you tell us the baby's sex?"

Dr. Whale adjusted the paddle sensor. "Fingers, toes. Okay, making a fist, fingers are separated now." He pointed to a place on the screen. "Ears. That's good. Eyes front."

The sensor moved down the baby's chest and the umbilical floated partially into view. "No kinks or tangles that I can see. Should get good nutrition. Are you eating properly?"

"I make sure we all eat balanced meals," Regina stated firmly.

"Okay." He glanced back at the screen. "Okay. Yeah, Emma's right. The baby is definitely a little girl."

Emma squeezed Regina's hand. A glance up found the blonde with small tears tracking down her cheeks. Regina pointed to the screen to draw Whale's attention away from Emma's emotional moment. "Ten toes?"

A moment of close examination and Dr. Whale proclaimed, "Yes. It does indeed look like you have a healthy baby girl."

Regina started to sit up.

"Hold on. I'm going to take a few snapshots for your file."

"We would like to keep some," Regina said.

"Of course."

While Dr. Whale worked on his notes and taking several still images and a short recording of the baby, Emma let go of Regina's hand. Dazedly she collected up the coats and clothes and sat down in the chair, hugging the garments into her lap.

_This is really happening._

Regina tried to get up again and turn around. Whale told her just another minute. Emma looked up to see Regina turn her head. "Emma?" _Are you all right?_

The blonde's green eyes were warm and she wore a dazed half-smile. _I'm fine._ "Just getting your clothes."

Dr. Whale stood up. "Well, you can get dressed now. I'll have the printed pictures for you at the front desk on your way out."

"Thanks," Emma said.

"Congratulations." Dr. Whale departed the room.

Regina sat up and slid off the chair. Emma handed over the skirt after Regina smoothed her blouse. Closing the catch on her skirt, Regina turned the garment to its proper position. Meeting Emma's eyes again, Regina voiced both their thoughts. "How is it possible that it somehow feels _more_ real now. It was only an exam."

"Because you know what she looks like now," Emma said. "I had the same shock when I saw Henry's first sonogram. You have the _idea _that you're pregnant, going through body changes, clothes don't fit. For a little while at least it's _just_ an idea. Seeing it, seeing him... seeing her," Emma finished with a dazed exhale. "It's really real."

Regina nodded. "When I adopted Henry, I decorated his room the minute I knew I was going to Boston to get him." She added, "This is a good time to start converting a room into a nursery." She looked at Emma. "Do you still have things in the guest bedroom?"

"A few." Emma chuckled at the calculations and planning she could not only see, but hear, spinning in Regina's mind.

Regina caught Emma's bemusement and stare. "Something wrong?" She vainly patted her hair since the blonde's gaze was locked on Regina's face.

"Nothing." Emma kissed the arch of cheekbone under Regina's sparkling brown eyes. Then she held the door for Regina and said, "It's just nice to see you plotting something creative instead of destructive for a change."

"I haven't plotted to destroy anything in months," Regina protested.

"You have a very memorable look," Emma teased.

Regina huffed. Emma laughed and followed the brunette to the front of the hospital so they could collect their pictures and be on their way.

* * *

Stepping into the afternoon sun, Emma suggested, "You wanna celebrate somewhere?"

"We need to go shopping," Regina said.

"We can do both," Emma said.

"You have your car and I have mine," Regina said. "It's not economical for us to both drive."

"Since when do you care about economy?"

"Since I realized we have a nursery to outfit. It's been eleven years, but I remember how much it took to prepare Henry's room."

Emma frowned. "We don't have to be fancy. She needs a crib, a few clothes…"

Regina scowled.

Emma held up her hands in surrender. This was obviously something hormonal. She was not going to win.

"Damn right, you won't win," Regina snapped.

"Okay, okay." She felt kicked.

Regina deflated instantly. "Emma?"

Emma lifted her head.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean…" Regina's bottom lip trembled. Emma held open her arms and pulled the brunette into her chest tightly until Regina was completely burrowed against her chest.

"Damn those hormones, huh?" Emma murmured.

Regina gathered in a deep breath, then another. Slowly she disengaged from Emma. "Let's go celebrate," she said with a determined lift of her chin.

"And we'll do window shopping, too."

"All right."

"My car is this way."

"I am not getting into that yellow deathtrap." Emma rolled her eyes. Regina insisted, "_Absolutely_ not."

"Okay. We'll take your car," Emma said; she decided David could drive her out during one of their patrols to pick up the Beetle.

Reading her thoughts, Regina snapped. "You shouldn't be driving it either."

"Okay. Whoa. Stop." Emma put her hand up. "That is _my _car."

Surprised by Emma's anger, Regina stared at her for several seconds then she felt horrible for making Emma angry. "I...I'm sorry, Emma."

Knowing this fight had come mostly from widely swinging hormones not helped by the deep, life-changing revelations that had been caused by truly seeing their daughter for the first time, Emma simply hugged Regina to her side and kissed the side of Regina's hair, inhaling. "I got you."

They had another brief argument when Emma said she would drive and moved toward the driver side. Regina insisted she still fit perfectly fine behind the wheel. "I am perfectly capable!"

"I didn't say you weren't. I thought you might want to look at the pictures while I drive."

Regina held them out; she had been thumbing through them. "We got them for you."

Emma stepped back from the car and put her hand on Regina's shoulder, then slipped the hand down to brush her stomach. "I have a pretty good view anytime I want."

Regina sighed. "I wish you could show me."

"We'll consult more books. Maybe there's a way to use the dreamcatcher?" While she'd been talking, she'd backed Regina around to the passenger side. Now Emma opened the door. "Until then, look at the pictures." Emma lifted her other hand and slipped her fingers through Regina's loose dark locks.

Realizing her emotional turmoil had quieted as a result of Emma's rational approach, Regina lifted her hand to Emma's cheek. "Thank you," she murmured.

"Anytime," Emma said, lips brushing Regina's fingers.

* * *

In the passenger seat as Emma drove, Regina studied the sonogram pictures. In the corner had been imprinted a label with today's date, the number of weeks she had been pregnant _(which always sent her mind randily back to that night)_ Emma chuckled a little at the realization where Regina's mind had gone. There was however, also a last line she read over and over again trying unsuccessfully to identify all of the tangle of emotions the phrase wrought:

_BABY GIRL Swan-Mills._

_Our kid_. Emma's thought slipped in and steadied Regina. She lifted her head and smiled before her gaze returned to the sonogram. Tracing the part of the image that had been identified as the little girl's spine and head, Regina wondered if the baby would more resemble Emma or herself. She thought about the baby's magic consumption again. Dark versus light. Would she truly be all right? She cupped a hand around her belly, worrying her teeth over her bottom lip.

"Hey." Emma's voice interrupted her reverie; the woman could hear her confused thoughts. "You okay?"

Emma's hand turned palm up on the center console. Regina felt a calm steal over her mind the moment she finished lacing her fingers with those of the blonde. "Yes, I'm all right."

"Anything you or she needs, you let me know." Emma's magic warmed Regina's palm briefly.

The baby twitched awake within Regina. "She does seem to be hungrier of late."

"She's reaching another rapid growth step. You remember the videos," Emma said easily. Second trimester is lots of neurological changes, almost daily differences."

"I remember," Regina said. It also explained her wider swing of emotions, angered over the smallest things, and equally teary-eyed over things she previously considered frivolous. She smiled at the memory of sitting with Emma in the study watching more of the fetal development videos they'd found online. She'd spent so much time learning to control her emotions, to be better, it was a particularly difficult adjustment to just allow herself to feel _through_ everything instead of holding something in.

Predictably, Emma squeezed her fingers. "Nothing's unimportant, okay? You tell me how you're feeling and whatever you need."

"Especially since my magic seems to be less useful of late." She shook her head. Early on the ability to magic up her food desires had been helpful to figure out what would make her feel better. "I remember you being disappointed you wouldn't need to satisfy my cravings with midnight runs." Regina said. "Instead of a pint of cherry chocolate brickle ice cream, I seem to be always in need of a magic infusion." She had a thought. "I wonder if your magic might hold a while in a sort of tea?"

Emma untucked their hands to move the car down through gears as she maneuvered into a parallel parking space on the furthest end of main street. "I kinda like our method of _direct_ application," she said. Her voice dropped an octave and Regina felt arousal pool in her stomach as Emma's magic slipped through their fingers.

"Mmm. Em-ma." Regina closed her eyes.

"Good." Emma smiled and leaned across the gear shift to kiss her. "So, we're agreed, no potions. Only fresh... injections."

Emma's thoughts were downright lascivious. Though no slouch in the variety of sex they could get up to, Regina actually felt her cheeks heat along with...other parts. "Yes."

"Let's go shopping." Emma's voice held a lack of enthusiasm.

Regina caught the blonde's hand in both her own and leaned close. "Tonight I will be interested in a _double_ infusion," she offered suggestively. "The tiny taste in the car has made baby girl Swan-Mills _very_ hungry."

The connective name slid off her tongue in a way that made her heart squeeze. The unity of it, of them, was still a work in progress. But Regina began feeling it might be... good. Emma wrapped an arm around Regina's shoulders and placed the other on Regina's abdomen. "If baby... Swan-Mills," Emma's pause to add the name as well gave Regina's heart another squeeze. Then Emma finished in a whisper while their noses were brushed together. "...is very good, not upsetting Mommy's tummy for the next few hours, I promise all the magic she can stand tonight."

The promise sent a shiver of pleasure all the way down to Regina's toes.

###


	18. Chapter 18

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Emma and Regina's afternoon is filled with lunch and shopping, and people reacting to their pregnancy news. The secret's out.

Over the quick lunch at Granny's, Emma pressed her point that they should make a list of essentials. "We can pick up other things, but there's necessities and there's niceties."

She was able to keep the paper while Regina went to the bathroom, a more frequent need these days.

"What are you writing?" Ruby asked.

"Baby supplies," Emma replied absently.

"They've got these lists online now. Who's the happy couple? Someone in the Sheriff's department find their happy ending?"

"No, no. It's…"

"You trying to keep a shower a secret?" Ruby smiled and bent close. "I can help plan if you want. I can keep a secret."

"It's not someone at the station," Emma replied.

"I know your mom was talking. It finally happen? You gonna be a big sister?"

"No, Ruby." Emma put the pen down and sipped her tea. "Please get our lunches before Regina comes back."

"Oh, is Regina not supposed to know?"

"Regina's pregnant, Ruby, of course she knows." Emma sighed as she finished. Regina had just appeared at the back of the restaurant, straightening her skirt. From the look on her face, she clearly had heard Emma share their news.

Ruby followed Emma's gaze to Regina who lifted her chin and walked to the table. "Congratulations, Regina," Ruby said.

"Pardon me?" Emma reached under the table and touched Regina's hand. The brunette blinked, but the dark brows stopped furrowing in dismay.

"I mean it. Congrats. I remember when Ashley - Ella, you know, was pregnant. I was so excited with every new feeling she talked about, even though she was scared. I thought it was great. Kids are great. Alexandra was worth it."

Regina's eye widened in surprise. "I... um, thank you."

"So, who's the father?"

Regina looked toward Emma. At her nod, Emma exhaled. She told Ruby, "I am."

"Dang, Ems, you can really keep 'em close to the vest - um, jacket. Didn't even know you and Regina were dating. Granny said she smelled it." The waitress sniffed the air sharply. "Yeah, I guess now I can sense -"

"Miss Lucas," The tone was sharp and low. Regina's emotional baring had reached its limits. "Please. Bring our lunches. Miss Swan and I are hungry."

The waitress beamed. "You got it!"

When they were finally alone, Emma leaned close. "I'm sorry. She saw me writing on the list."

"What did you add anyway?"

"Bedding, diapers, onesies."

"Did I hear Miss Lucas mention an online list?"

"Yeah, they're called registries. You go through and pick out the things you want and tell everyone those are what you want as gifts."

"Gifts?"

"For a baby shower. Friends of the mom, or the couple, usually throw them a celebratory party, gift them a lot of the things they would need without having to spend a lot of their own money."

"To have that, I would need friends willing to throw me a party." Regina nodded. "I see now why it's not an option." Regina remained quiet when Ruby brought their lunches a few minutes later. Emma focused on eating for a few more minutes after that. But Regina's emotions were bombarding her from across the table. Finally, she put down her grilled cheese.

"Regina, you have friends. Shoot, Ruby practically gushed. She patted your shoulder before she left just now. I bet she'd come to something we planned."

"But for it to be proper we are not the ones who should plan it."

Emma grasped Regina's hand, feeling the tension in the woman's tendons and the anxiety in her thoughts. "So, we don't have a shower. Big deal. We make our own list. Go with that."

"You didn't have a shower with Henry. We should have a shower for you," Regina insisted.

Emma bit her tongue. Back then she had thrown herself a pity party. "I'm not the one who is pregnant," Emma reminded her with as quiet and gentle a tone as she could manage. "A shower isn't important to me. Having a healthy baby girl. _You_ being okay. That's what matters to me."

Regina still fretted, but Emma felt that the brunette did generally calm. She gave the brunette's fingers another gentle squeeze. "We're still going window shopping after lunch. So eat up."

Granny came out just when they were finishing. She placed the bill on the table, but covered it up with one hand. The big-boned woman looked down and leaned in close to Regina, making the brunette swallow even as she tried to maintain eye contact. "Ruby says you're pregnant."

"She said you smelled it," Emma interjected.

"Not the child." Granny said. "But it may have been too early." The older woman inhaled deeply then and slowly smiled. "Oh. There she is."

Regina asked, "You can tell it's a girl?"

"The nose knows." Granny tapped her finger to the bridge of hers on what was likely a ancient healed break. "Mmm... Magic too?"

Emma sighed. "Yes. I told the nurse at the hospital it was IVF out of town. I have no idea whether she believes that. The magic thing is… well, kind of weird."

"Oh, honey," Granny patted Emma's hand. "It doesn't matter how a child comes into being, only that you love 'em and protect 'em once they're here." Granny stood.

"The check?" Emma pointed to the paper still in Granny's hand.

"Today's on the house, ladies. Thanks for the good news."

* * *

Emma and Regina walked down Main Street together. Regina closed her call with Jeremy. "I can't decide if he's truly happy for me or he has so many years of experience as my assistant that he could just as easily _be_ mayor."

At the corner, Emma pressed the button to request the walk signal before turning to Regina. "No one can replicate your signature," Emma said.

"Or yours," Regina replied. "I can barely read it when I have watched you sign it."

"So we get to keep our jobs. Good thing. Steady income."

Regina stopped at a window, caught by the small mannequin in a blue toddler jumper. She looked at Emma and smiled. _First stop_.

The store was bright and colorful and Regina noted the signs hanging over different sections: Children's Furniture, For Baby, Girls, Boys. The last two were dominated by pink and blue, pink bonnets, pink bows, blue footed onesies, tiny blue shoes.

Regina lifted a pair of pink baby shoes and burst into tears.

"What's wrong?" Emma asked. A woman with a thick waist and gray hair started toward them from the back of the store.

"I hate pink." Regina mumbled between sobs.

"These are just the traditional colors," Emma said. She looked to the woman who had just arrived. "You've got other stuff. Right?"

"The newer parents do seem to prefer pastels, orange, yellow, green. A few have asked for tan or brown. Doesn't show the dirt so much when they start scooting about. Is there a color you have in mind?"

"Green like Emma's eyes," Regina said immediately.

The woman grabbed Emma's chin and stared into her eyes. Emma blinked, about to object, but then the touch was gone. "Well, them's an unusual shade." Abruptly the store clerk said, "But come this way." She took them to the back side of shelves near the far wall. "Here you go," she said.

The shelves were filled with greens, from pastel to the dark verdant greens of a forest. Shoes, onesies, blankets, little pants, shorts, socks, bonnets with and without lace or frills, bedding, and so much more.

Regina picked up an item critically, her mind tumbling over thoughts about style, quality, and choices in fabrics. Behind her she heard Emma exhale long and low and tried to quiet her mind.

The store clerk asked Emma, "Mama-to-be?"

"Mmm hmm." _Happy mom,_ Emma thought very clearly.

"And you are the good friend," the woman said, patting her shoulder.

Regina turned around and shook her head. In her hands she held a no frill cotton bonnet in tiny pinstripes of alternating pastel and medium green. "Emma is also her mom."

The woman clapped her hands together. "That is wonderful. You are pregnant too."

"No, I'm the other parent to Regina's baby," Emma said.

"You are? So modern. No wonder you wanted a different color."

Regina moved along the shelves with purpose and started to collect different things.

Emma followed behind. "I thought we were just looking."

"But they may sell out."

"Doubtful. This is Storybrooke," Emma said. "Even so, we can order it and have them bring the items to the store for us to pick up."

"But I need to feel the clothes. I won't let her have scratchy clothes. That would be so uncomfortable."

"Let's go home and finish the list."

Turning away from Emma to the store clerk, Regina asked, "Do you have a website?"

"Storybrooke Baby dot com," the woman replied. "We can order and deliver in six to eight weeks."

"No faster?"

"Regina, relax," Emma said.

The clerk seemed confused and glanced at Regina's waistline before her gaze swiveled between both women. "How soon is your baby due?"

"I am in the second trimester," Regina replied. "We saw our sonogram today." The brunette pulled the three pictures from her purse.

Emma was certain under no other circumstances would Regina have shared such personal images with a complete stranger. However, she proceeded to describe the parts of the sonogram image to the woman while they stood in the green aisle of baby items in Storybrooke Baby.

The woman looked over at Emma while Regina was explaining about the baby's fingers. She smiled kindly. "You will have everything before you need it, I promise."

It was still another thirty-five minutes before Emma could get Regina to leave the store. Without buying the place out.

* * *

The next store window to catch Regina's eye was a furniture shop full of hand-carved items. Nothing looked to be an IKEA assembly. With trepidation, Emma looked up. "Regina, this is Marco's shop."

"He makes excellent furniture. Henry's crib, and the bookshelf that he has had since he was a baby were made by him."

Emma knew the woodcutter also made the wardrobe that transported Emma and Pinocchio, aka August, to this world. She'd seen the crib and toys he'd made for her, the royal baby, collecting dust in the nursery her parents had set up back in The Enchanted Forest. All the things she'd never had a chance to grow with and enjoy.

"But…" Emma worried.

"Do you think he will refuse us service?" Regina asked.

Emma tried to peer deeper into the dark shop beyond the window. She didn't see anyone. Maybe the store wasn't open. "I don't know."

Regina went to the door. When she turned the knob, the door swung inward. A bell over the door melodiously tinkled.

"Customers, Papa!"

Emma's chest ached when she saw the little boy jump up from behind a wooden box and run to the back of the shop. She remembered August, the man, who had tried to convince her about the curse and make her believe in magic. But this boy's gaze did not hold familiarity. Her friend, August, was gone.

Marco entered the front of the shop slowly, his age extremely evident in his hunched shoulders and careful steps. He lifted his head. "Good afternoon. What may I help you with today?"

"Hi," Emma said, stepping forward. "Marco."

"Good afternoon, Emma. Regina. Something you want for young Henry's birthday, eh?"

Emma smiled. "Regina tells me you made him a bookshelf."

"He still uses it," Regina added.

"My papa is the best woodworker in the whole world," Pinocchio said.

Emma tried to exhale away the heaviness in her chest. She couldn't. "I… yeah, I'm going to go, uh, look at some of the pieces… outside."

She exited quickly. A bus stop bench a few feet further away from the store became her refuge. She sat down, leaned forward, and hid her face in her hands.

"Emma?" Marco came outside.

"You don't want to leave Regina too long. She'll buy up the whole place."

"I don't understand. I thought we were friends, Miss Emma?"

"Marco, we are. You've been… you're so nice. You… got August… Pinocchio back. I'm so glad for both of you."

His eyes studied her and Emma felt suddenly ashamed. "Ah. You are upset he gets his childhood with his papa again, and you do not."

The facts so plainly stated hit Emma in the gut and she burst into tears.

Marco sat down on the bench and handed her a handkerchief which she used to wipe her eyes. She tried valiantly to pull herself together. After a moment, he said, "Miss Emma?"

Emma sniffled and wiped her eyes. "Yeah?"

"You live the life one day at a time. Every day a gift, eh? You have your son, too. It is okay if you cannot go back, but you must always go forward. For them."

"Does Aug - Pinocchio remember anything about growing up here?" Emma wondered.

The gray-haired head shook. "No."

Emma nodded. She realized she honestly did not want the child to feel badly for the way the boy had abandoned her, or how the man had orchestrated things so Neal would leave her, but… it meant she had no one who shared her experience of growing up in this world the way she had. It meant she was alone, again.

"Emma?" Regina appeared in the doorway.

Wiping her face, Emma peered around Marco. "Yes, Regina?"

"I think this would be a good bassinet for when we bring her home, don't you?"

Emma looked at the object in Regina's hands. It had a delicately carved headboard with sworls and ridges and had been stained a rich cinnamon brown. The curved runners on the bottom would make it easy to rock on the floor. "It's lovely," she said.

"Marco, I have some other things that I'd like," Regina said.

"You are planning on another child, Miz Regina?"

"A baby girl will arrive in about six months."

"Did you use the same adoption agency where you found Henry?"

"No," Emma said. "Regina is pregnant."

Marco looked from Emma back to Regina. "You are not," he scoffed. Emma thought the man was being overly surprised, and had been too polite to mention the extra weight on the brunette's usually slender frame.

"Dr. Whale confirmed I am now in my second trimester," Regina replied. Her fingers brushed her abdomen.

He stood and effusively said, "You will be a beautiful mama, Miz Regina, so beautiful."

She smiled at Emma. "Thank you, Marco."

"Emma, you are good to help Regina while the father works."

"Marco, um, well, here's the thing." Emma rubbed the back of her neck, feeling awkward. "I'm the father… well, the other mother. We… Regina and I…"

Marco laughed. "I may be an old man, Emma, but I am not old-fashioned. You are both Henry's mothers and so you both will be this baby's mothers. Love is love."

Emma chuckled. "That's great, but it's not... just that. I'm _really _the baby's other parent. Would you believe magic?"

After a brief silence, Marco laughed heartily then clasped Emma's hand. "Ah, _mia ragazza_. _My_ son is a wooden puppet who became a real boy." He grasped her shoulders and then kissed both of her cheeks. His work worn fingers wiped away her tears. "Of _course_ I believe in magic. Congratulations."

Marco turned back to Regina, who stiffened the longer he smiled at her. "You have good and true love, _mia cara_. Your son, his mother, and that baby. Promise an old man you do not forget what matters most."

Regina swallowed and nodded. "I promise."

"Good." He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and led her back into the shop. "Now, come! Tell Marco your dreams, and I will make it for _una piccola_."

###


	19. Chapter 19

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Family movie night at home. SQ and moms-to-be fluff strengthens Emma's security in family.

In a few minutes the day shift would end and Emma relished the idea she was headed home to Regina and Henry. _And movie night_, she added. They'd taken to celebrating the end of a work week with homemade hamburgers, popcorn, and a movie. Tonight's feature had been Emma's selection and she was eager to see how her son and Regina responded to _The Incredibles_. Henry liked his Marvel superheroes, but she hoped Regina enjoyed the "family of supers" concept just as Emma had when she first saw it.

Emma stepped into the station. She found David removing his gun holster - Emma rhesiefused to wear one - and locking the equipment in the gun safe in the office.

"Hey," she said.

"Hi there. You done for the day?"

"Yep. Going home."

David's lips twitched. Though he said nothing, she could see the conflicting emotions in his eyes.

Into the silence, Emma added with a smile, "It's movie night with Regina and Henry."

Her father hesitated, then said, "A few people have congratulated me that I'm having another grandchild."

Emma nodded. "Yeah, Regina's started to show, and we've been out around town shopping for stuff."

"So, you?" David walked up to her with his hands rubbing together, but he stopped before he was in hug range and met her gaze. "Do you need anything?"

"I'm good." Emma leaned back against her desk and crossed her arms. "It's kind of hectic. I… last time I did this I wasn't planning for any sort of future. It's… well, it's nice now to do some of the things I didn't before."

"Yeah. Things you didn't do before," he finished in a mumble. Then he straightened and put his hands in his pockets. "Maybe, uh, Monday we... you... me? We could patrol together?"

Emma didn't see the harm. David was being weird, but perhaps it was a Dad thing. "I guess." She smiled with a quick twist of her lips and added, "Though one of us needs to be ready for the Council meeting report on Monday afternoon."

"I can work on that paperwork this weekend. I think a few hours together would be... good."

"Okay." Emma uncrossed her arms and tightened her fingers around the front edge of the desk. "Have a nice weekend."

David stopped his departure and turned around in the doorway. "Em... I... There were things your mother and I didn't get to do with you, too," he said quietly.

His lament explained his earlier behavior entirely too well and the emotion hit Emma unexpectedly. She dropped her head down so he couldn't see the shine building in her eyes. Tightening her grip on the desk edge made it so her shoulders didn't shake. The sob broke free only after she heard the door to outside open and close behind David.

"Fuck, fuck," Emma pushed away from the desk and threw herself into a chair.

Her cellphone buzzed in her pocket. Fishing it out, she read the caller ID: "Regina."

Emma exhaled, blowing out some of the emotional backwash from her father's words, cleared her mind, then tapped the green icon. "Hey," she tried for short so the brunette wouldn't hear she was upset.

"What happened, Emma?"

Well, that hadn't helped. The brunette's worried tone before any sort of greeting told Emma that she was specifically calling about the emotional turmoil she felt. But Emma was loathe to share until she could manage it. "Nothing."

"I felt this wave of … sadness, and… I … it wasn't coming from the baby. She's been quiet all day."

Crap. That magical bond again. Emma forced herself to pull her ass together. She was supposed to be Regina's support, not the other way around. "I'm sorry."

"It's all right. I...It worried me, it was … it felt... like when I lost Daniel." That particular comparison gutted Emma; a choked cry emerged before she could control it. "Emma, talk to me."

"I… David... my... dad asked if we could patrol together. He says that he missed doing... stuff... with me."

"He misses patrolling Storybrooke with you?" Regina sounded surprised.

"No, more like the Enchanted Forest," Emma said. "If I'd been able to stay with them. How they would have raised me."

Now Emma felt Regina's melancholy. "I'm sorry, Emma." _But I want to._

"Nope, forget it. Live in the present, right? I'll be patrolling Storybrooke with Dad on Monday morning." Emma stood up. "I'm on my way home to you now."

"We're ready for you," Regina replied. "I seasoned the burgers, made the salad, and the wedge fries are currently in the oven."

"I'll be right there."

"Drive safe."

Emma looked at her fingers, glowing with magic as she just started to think about getting home to her _family_. She clicked the button ending the call and snapped her fingers.

Magic lifted her up and she vanished from the station in a cloud of white. A moment later, when the cloud dissipated, she appeared in the driveway to the house on Mifflin.

A neighbor startled at his mailbox. Emma hustled to the Mills mailbox herself and checked it, finding a few pieces. "Have a good night," she told the neighbor with a wave.

"Sheriff Swan?" His voice turned her around.

"Weekend's here," she said with a wink. "It's just Emma for the next 48 hours."

"Oh. Well, have a good night then."

"Thanks!" Emma folded the mail into her hand so nothing would fall out and followed the walk up to the house. She opened the door with her other hand and stepped inside.

"I'm home." Her statement wasn't very loud, an affirmation for herself rather than a greeting, but Regina stepped out of a nearby alcove and smiled.

"Welcome home." Deep lust blazed in brown eyes as Regina's gaze swept Emma's frame. She stepped closer. "You don't smell of gasoline," Regina stated. It was a clear statement of surprise.

"I didn't drive the Bug home."

"You finally gave it up?" Regina's voice was light, teasing.

Emma shook her head. "Just took a faster mode of transportation." She wiggled her fingers. "Nothing to it. Right to the driveway." She lifted the mail into view. "Brought you the mail."

Regina took it and moved into Emma's embrace, giving her a long kiss that soothed Emma after her exchange with David.

When Regina stepped back, Emma said, "Thank you. Where's the kid?"

"Henry is in the TV room, setting up the movie."

"He's eager."

"He claims to enjoy that we _hang out_."

"Good, because I love that we _hang out_, too." She took Regina's hand as the brunette stepped close enough to touch then, with the smallest tug, she brought the woman close enough to lightly place another light kiss to her lips.

* * *

"Do you think my parents might accept an offer of movie night?" Emma asked. Henry had gone up to bathe before bed while the credits rolled. She and Regina sat together, and Emma shifted so that Regina rested in the curve of her shoulder.

"If they understand this is how you want to spend your family time perhaps it will meet their needs to be in your life as your parents."

"Yeah." Emma turned and nuzzled Regina's hair. "You smell so good," she murmured.

"I'm sweaty and swollen, and I have onion breath," Regina complained. Emma smiled; the brunette claimed she made the greasy fried onion rings for Emma, only to have eaten most of them herself.

"I may not have your super-sensitive pregnancy senses," Emma said, continuing to nuzzle. "But I am definitely into the way you smell right now." She kissed behind Regina's ear.

Regina started to stand; Emma kept her in place. "I need to get up and put things away."

"I'll do it after you're asleep," Emma said.. "Would a foot rub help?" She wrapped her arms around Regina's waist and gently touched her palms to the very rounded abdomen. "Hmm?"

Regina grasped Emma's fingers. "You're making her do circles," she said. "It's making me queasy."

"Sorry." Emma took away her hands slowly, looking down at Regina's belly with a smile.

"You're not sorry. You love that she responds to you, that she knows you're out here."

"Yep, out here eager to meet her," Emma said. "So, how about that foot rub? I can excite _you_ that I'm here."

The lust that had greeted Emma at the door returned once again in brown, but then Regina moaned. "Mmm, I don't know that I want to move at all," Regina said. "You're so warm."

"Well, throw the blanket over you and lay back. We don't have to go upstairs."

Stocking feet lifted quickly into Emma's lap.

"I know you love heels, but you should wear flats or, even better, sneakers," Emma said, rubbing firmly enough into Regina's arches that the brunette moaned. "Your back will thank you," she added.

"I require a height advantage with George."

"I can arrest the man if he gives you any trouble."

"You can't go around arresting everyone who gives me trouble."

"I can't believe you just said that - to me, of all people, whom you had arrested _twice_ in the first week we met."

"The first wasn't me," Regina insisted. "You passed out behind the wheel of that hideous yellow car. Graham brought you to the station."

"Your cider was good, but not that good. I was not drunk. There was an animal in the road."

Regina huffed. "I miss cider," she said.

Emma's massage shifted up to Regina's calf. "No alcohol."

"I know." Regina's sigh was as much for the admission as it was for the relief Emma's massage was providing. "It's not the alcohol. I miss... the bite, the crispness of it."

"But even the non-alcoholic version has given you heartburn."

"I know."

Leaning forward, Emma kissed the corners of Regina's frown. "About the shoes…"

"I should continue wearing heels if it gets me more foot rubs. Uh," Regina sighed, head back as Emma wrapped up Regina's left foot in both hands and rolled her thumbs forcefully into the soles. "You are so good at that," Regina breathed.

"Only too happy, but seriously. No one will care what you're wear behind your desk." She separated Regina's toes between her fingers, eliciting yet another happy moan. Then she began long strokes from the heel to the arch and the happy moan became an aroused one. "Oops, sorry."

Regina threw her arm over her eyes. "Don't be. I quite enjoyed that."

Emma laughed. "All right." So she did the same again.

"Oh," Regina closed her eyes. "Mmm."

Emma fell into a rhythm with rubbing Regina's feet that was every bit as relaxing for her.

"Moms!" Henry's voice reached them from what sounded like the top of the stairs.

"Is it bedtime already?" Regina murmured, huskily sounding very nearly asleep. Her eyelids were mostly closed, her hands soothing circles on her belly, while Emma lifted her hands from Regina's calf again.

Looking at the DVR time display, Emma said, "Yeah." Sitting up, Regina pushed off the light blanket she'd thrown over her middle. "We'll put the kid to bed and then you."

* * *

Henry looked up from his reading when a knock sounded on his bedroom door. "Yeah?"

"Mom kisses incoming," Emma announced. The door opened and his mothers entered a few steps, leaning on opposite sides of the doorway.

"Showered?" his mom asked.

"Yep."

"Teeth brushed?" Ma asked.

He flashed a smile to show off his teeth. 'Yep."

"Homework done?"

"Yes, Mom." Henry lifted his cheek when his dark-haired mother leaned down. Her belly in the way though, she stopped partway and only gave his hair a soft caress. He smiled at her; good night kisses shouldn't still really be a thing when you're almost twelve anyway. Emma tugged his foot beneath the blankets so he smiled at her.

"Night, kid." Emma reached out to catch his mom's hand, tugging her back to the doorway.

"Good night, Henry."

"Good night, Moms."

Emma put her hand to the light switch. She held the door open for his mom then followed her back to the hallway, flipping the switch down on her way out.

Henry lay back and looked up at the star chart glowing in the dark on his ceiling. He traced Ursa Major and other constellations thinking about the evening. Family nights haven't been what he imagined when he went to find Emma in Boston. They were _better_. Emma and his mom talked, quiet and low like they hoped he couldn't hear. But he did. Tonight they had been murmuring back and forth about names for the baby. Apparently Marco wanted to carve the name into the headboard of the bassinet he was making.

Marco probably had a few more days to wait before he would get an answer. To Henry it hadn't sounded like his moms came to any conclusions.

He wondered if they might ask him. Immediately the name Grace popped into his head. He then shook it out. No. It would be too weird to call his sister by the name of the girl he hoped to date. He chuckled, rolled onto his side, and closed his eyes.

* * *

On her bed, Regina used her arms to pull herself backward while Emma crawled up the sheets. She reclined onto her bent elbows and Emma followed, kissing her lips. She had on a thin nightgown and nothing else the better to entice Emma.

The blonde's hand went to Regina's hips but stopped. "How are you feeling?" Emma asked.

"Like I want to have you inside me." Emma smirked. They kissed. But the blonde made no move to do as Regina needed. The nightgown clearly not doing the job, Regina slid her arms around Emma's neck and tugged at the blonde's clothes. "Out of these."

Emma still wore the blue button up shirt she favored in lieu of an actual sheriff's uniform, and the skin-tight jeans which had outlined her ass to Regina's hungry eyes all night, every time the woman got up to fetch more popcorn.

"I'll be back as soon as I've cleaned the kitchen."

"I need you to warm me up," Regina said. They'd had this discussion before, and she was adamant that she did not pout.

Emma didn't budge; she did smile though. "Won't be gone long enough for the sheets to cool." The kiss and feel of her body's heat only made Regina more desirous of keeping the blonde in bed.

"If you use magic, please try not to cut yourself again." Regina looked at the blonde's left hand, which had taken a nasty gash when Emma had a problem with the washing spell and a plate shattered.

"I think I have it this time," Emma said with the confidence born from successfully following Regina's directions on how to magically heal it. There was a scar, but it looked much like an extra life line had been etched into the blonde's palm. Before Regina could reach for her hand, Emma had snapped her fingers and vanished off the middle of the bed.

Regina laid back. _Hurry back_, she thought even as she felt the drag of the day pull at her eyelids and her body.

* * *

Emma made short work of the dishes without magic. There weren't many and she needed a few minutes of quiet to herself. Hearing about George hassling Regina had reminded her she needed to be focused on protecting the brunette and their child.

Regina's baby bump had become basketball size, and she carried high, which wore out her back muscles. Whale had assured them both this was a normal development and would only last until the baby dropped into position for delivery.

Everyone now knew Regina was pregnant, whether they had seen her in person or heard from someone else. While there were plenty of welcoming smiles, people asking how far along she was and others offering advice, there were still plenty of scowls and frowns.

Emma's mother still frowned; her father always looked pained. Today she had glimpsed an understanding of why David was bothered; it all reminding him of Snow's pregnancy and how missed the chance to be Emma's parents.

Also there were the problems she sensed from the Blue Fairy and Gold. Emma still didn't know what to expect from the town's two other heavy-hitting magic users and that frustrated her. The Blue Fairy continued to appear everywhere Regina and Emma went together, though she always claimed it was about the convent's preparations for Miner's Day, happening tomorrow. Gold showed up at town meetings with Belle and Neal at his side. He didn't speak, but he was clearly planning _something_. He watched Emma, who stood as security in the corner while her father presented the policing reports. He watched Regina any time the brunette sat quietly listening. Neal occasionally talked quietly with Henry, when he was also there. Emma and Regina had not allowed him over to the house with Henry since the first time, denying Henry's requests. But he was still allowed when they were all in public together. It allowed her and Regina to keep their eyes on the situation.

Then there was Regina. When she was sitting in meetings just listening, she rubbed her belly. Emma had wondered aloud before if she was in pain. Regina assured her it was soothing to the baby, who would often kick while people other than Regina talked.

Magically, they both sensed the growing mind and will of their daughter. Emma wondered if Blue or Rumple had a similar connection to the new little life. Emma felt many things, curiosity among them, which often led to movement, which gave Regina either heartburn or put pressure on her diaphragm, giving her hiccups, or her bladder which hastened the need to seek a bathroom.

Tonight when the baby had started "doing flips" during the movie, Emma had leaned close and she'd talked to Regina about what to call her. The sound of their voices finally soothed the baby and Regina had sighed, grateful for the calm.

Dishes done, Emma walked back upstairs and found, as she had expected, Regina was asleep. The second trimester energy boost the websites had all mentioned seemed to get the mayor through the day's at city hall, but Regina often fell asleep when she had any chance to lay down, taking weight off her back and feet, and the baby cooperated.

Emma stepped out, leaving the brunette asleep, and walked across the hall to the door next to Henry's room. Stepping inside the former guest room, she looked around at the space now planned for the nursery. A changing table and the rocking chair with crocheted blanket from Regina's study were the only furnishings already in place. They planned to work together on wallpaper and paint next weekend.

She shut the nursery door and walked back to their bedroom. Pausing with her hand on the knob, she acknowledged the progress toward being a full-fledged family. For the longest time she had only referred to this room where she slept with Regina as "Regina's room," even though when she moved her clothes to a few drawers about a month ago, it had officially become "their" room. Henry easily said it now, telling Emma on laundry day that she was supposed to go into "their room" to get the clothes from the basket "so Mom doesn't have to carry it down the stairs."

Without turning on the light, Emma stripped off her jeans and shirt, leaving on her tank top and underwear. She crawled into the bed and settled beside Regina who was turned away from her. With a soft snuffle and roll, Regina slid backward and wedged into Emma, never awakening.

Pleased by Regina's unconscious request to cuddle, Emma wrapped her arms around the other woman's voluptuous dimensions. She kissed the dark hair and finally closed her own eyes. Feeling the baby's contentment Emma sent a wave of love back encompassing mother and child. _Sleep tight, loves._

###


	20. Chapter 20

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Miner's Day. Part 1.

Miner's Day dawned cold and rainy. Wearing her Sheriff's department issue rain slicker with its reflective strips, Emma stood under a pavilion with her father and the dozen other men and women who were being deputized to patrol the festival grounds. They, too, wore slickers with SECURITY in bright yellow letters across the back and the town's seal over the left breast. Quite a few also wore ball caps with the department's logo. Emma used the hood that was usually zipped away inside her jacket's collar.

When David had stepped back to her side and the last words of the swearing in echoed away, Emma stepped forward.

"Arrests are still strictly David's and my bag," Emma insisted. "You can detain someone as a suspect in an unlawful act, but you radio David or I _immediately. _We'll handle the legals." She searched the sea of faces, meeting gazes to assure herself none would abuse their position. She held up her radio. "Channel 1 for emergencies only. Channel 2 is general communications. Use 3 or 4 for length consultations. Remember everything is being recorded through the radio system. Keep it clean."

"Are we to report 10-7 and 10-8, Sheriff?" A brawny brown-haired man in his mid-20s adjusted his ball cap after speaking.

Emma mentally flipped through her code memory at the same time she tried to decide if the person was being cheeky or sincere about when to announce they were going to be off the radio network. "No, Gunter, this is a single shift event. I can't have someone tracking who's on and off radio. If you gotta take a leak, just do it fast, okay?"

"Yes, Sheriff."

"Also, everybody, just use regular language. This is Miner's Day in Storybrooke, not the Marathon in Boston. If you see something weird, just say so."

"What about magic, Sheriff?"

She turned to the thin wiry man with grizzled hair who had spoken. "What about it, Ferris?"

"What do we do if somebody's using magic?"

Emma turned to look at David, who raised his eyebrows back, giving no indication of his thoughts.

"If you see someone using magic to harm someone else, that's battery."

"Stealing?"

"Cutting in line?"

"Vanishing people in the line?" added another emphatically. "So they can be first!"

"What about disguising themselves?"

"Or potion brewing?"

"God, people, calm down!" Emma held up both hands to signal for quiet. "Not every situation you come across is a result of magic. Most are just people acting stupid." Emma looked around at the litany of suggested misuses of magic. "Unless...Is there some specific threat you've heard that I should know about?"

The deputized citizens exchanged glances with one another then, one by one, each shook his or her head.

"Good. Remember what running around crying 'wolf' did to one town," Emma said.

"What'd it do, Sheriff?"

Emma's jaw dropped. "Didn't any of you guys read your own stories? The Boy Who Cried Wolf is all about …"

"Well, if there's a wolf attack, we'd know it's Ruby," another man piped up.

Emma sighed. "No. Repeatedly calling false alarms means when the real danger arrives no one will believe you. So only report the genuine problems."

"Yes, Sheriff."

"Thank you. All right. You've got your assigned areas. Go."

Emma backed up as the people dispersed. She looked over her shoulder at David who was looking down at his feet. "You got a 'this is gonna be a mess' look going there."

His head snapped up and he smiled quickly. "Just trying to remember if I ever heard a story about a boy who cried wolf."

Giving a wry laugh, Emma turned and invited, "Walk with me and I'll tell it to you."

David's smile revealed this huge "over the moon" sort of happiness. "I'm all ears."

While moving her gaze over the vendors setting up and the scattered people getting breakfast from the food trucks open with breakfast items, Emma told David the tale of the boy who cried wolf.

As she finished, David asked, "So, this shepherd just wanted attention?"

"He wanted people to think his job was important. That's why he made up the stories of facing, then driving away, a wolf," Emma clarified. "He wanted to be seen as a hero. In the end, his lies cost the community their entire flock of sheep."

"Food for years," David said. At Emma's raised eyebrow. "I was a shepherd before I met your mother."

"Until your twin died. Yeah, I remember."

Emma led David around the back of the park, near city hall. Regina was just stepping out of the building, hand on her stomach as she navigated the few steps, looking down toward her feet. Emma smiled as she thought about Regina requesting help to put on the dark canvas sneakers that morning. She'd teased her a little, kissed her cheek, and then each foot before putting on the shoes and tying them.

"I really liked being a shepherd," David said.

"Mmm hmm," Emma agreed, barely listening. Regina looked beautiful. The high color in her face her made her glow.

As the woman came closer, Emma heard her talking out loud to their daughter and rubbing her belly. "A little fresh air might make you sleepy, hmm?"

Obviously the baby was moving a lot. Emma sent a calming thought toward the baby and Regina looked up, having caught it, too.

"But I guess, maybe, I was okay with becoming Midas's replacement son because then I could be a hero, too."

David's voice turned Emma's gaze to him. "Hmm? What?"

"Wanting to be a hero means needing something to be a hero for."

"You never lied about a wolf attack though," Emma said. She lifted a hand and waved. "Regina!"

"Maybe I have," David mumbled.

"Hmm?" Emma registered her father had spoken, but she was more focused on meeting Regina halfway on her walk from the building. "Hey," she greeted and Regina put her hand in hers. "Good morning."

Emma started to lean forward to kiss Regina when the brunette spoke. "Good morning, David."

Awkwardly Emma kept herself from kissing Regina and only squeezed her hand. Her father looked at her then at Regina; his smile remained surprisingly warm. "Regina, how are you feeling?"

Emma's jaw dropped.

"I...I'm feeling well." Regina paused. "Thank you."

"How… how far along are you?" he asked, and damn, he sounded interested. Really interested.

"It's 20 weeks now," Emma said, unable to hide her surprise. "Dad?"

"Oh...um, that's… halfway or so?"

"Yes," Regina answered, her hand cupping her belly.

"I… um… Snow… complained a lot about her back and feet. Have you been able to …?" He looked again to Emma then back to Regina.

"Emma massages my feet often," Regina said simply.

"That's good," he said. "Um… I … well, I'm going to continue the patrol, Emma. Why don't you stay with Regina until her speech?"

"I… yeah, I can do that." Emma studied his face and smiled. "Thanks."

"I promise I'll only report real wolves," he said. David hugged her and Emma hugged him back. The contact was brief but she swallowed hard against the burn of tears in back of her eyes as he walked away.

"What's this about wolves?" Regina asked.

Emma exhaled. She thought back over her father's words. "Maybe he's done seeing them everywhere."

* * *

Regina walked slowly beside Emma as they circled the lake. Many booths being set up on the pond's north side were filled with home crafts and art. She appreciated the aesthetic of separating different types of sellers, particularly the food trucks and carts being over by the Main Street entrance, keeping away from the bugs that lived around water.

The morning's rains had finally been burned away by sunshine. Nearing noon the air was comfortably warm. The baby's somersaults had subsided and the walk had also calmed Regina's nerves.

"You came out to the festival early. Thought you had some work to finish," Emma said.

"The state revenue review had to be filed," Regina said. "Belle was a fair recordkeeper while we were in Neverland, but before that, the records were in… disarray."

"My mother had no head for figures," Emma said. "I know."

"I wasn't pinning it on any person," Regina said. "I find energy in working, but no longer in carrying grudges." Emma's smile told Regina that her intentions were well taken. "I think it's good that your father is spending time with you."

Emma was quiet. Before Regina could catch the woman's inner thought however, Emma changed the subject. "So, I know David asked, but are you really feeling fine?"

"Yes, you would have sensed if I wasn't telling the truth."

"His question surprised me," Emma said. "I wasn't sure I didn't miss anything."

"I take it the time patrolling together has gone all right?"

"Yeah. We haven't had an incident yet."

"I wasn't actually thinking about the _patrolling_, so much as the _together_ part," Regina said. "Your parents have made their position about my... condition quite clear."

"Yeah, but, maybe, this is… a sign they're coming around?"

"I share the stage with your mother in just a few hours. We shall see."

"Fingers crossed," Emma said. She looked toward the displays under the tents. "Festivals are usually full of really unique things. You want to look for things for the nursery? Maybe a painting or something?"

Regina could see and feel Emma's happiness building and felt tears gather in her eyes. She tucked her hand into Emma's elbow and smiled warmly. "Let's have a look around."

* * *

Snow sat gripping the sides of the chair on the raised speakers platform, debating whether to get to her feet or remain seated. Regina Mills was still the mayor, so respect would suggest she stand, but the Evil Queen had stolen her comfortable life in the Enchanted Forest, after betraying and murdering her father. Right now though, Regina looked like the young woman who had rescued young Snow from falling and being crushed underfoot by her runaway horse. With a definitely pregnant belly and Emma helping her to carefully negotiate steps, Regina's longer hair swayed with her movements. Gone was the ice bitch mayor Snow recalled from the cursed years. While what she wore was still "business" attire, it wasn't her power suit or kill-you heels. Not usually faced with this image of Regina in need of assistance or even accepting it, especially from Emma, Snow didn't know what to do with the boiling feelings within her.

Regina paused at the top of the steps and Emma stood alongside her.

"Snow," Regina said. "Good afternoon."

"Hey, Mom." Emma's smile, granted to Regina, did not fade when she turned to face Snow.

Snow answered brightly. "Good morning, Emma."

"Have you had a chance to walk around the festival yet?" Emma asked, as she shifted bags from Regina's hands to her own.

"No, I see you did though. What did you find?"

"A few things for the nursery," Emma said with a smile. "Really cute."

Snow gaped then snapped her jaw shut quickly at Regina's sharp look. Emma her daughter, even Emma the bondsperson who had been Mary Margaret's roommate would seldom have used the word "cute."

"I should get back out to patrol," Emma said. Snow watched as her daughter lightly touched Regina's arm and the women's gazes met. Emma's voice was earnest as she asked Regina, "You gonna be okay?"

"Go put those things in the car," Regina said. "I'll be fine."

"Sure?"

"Yes, dear."

Snow stared at Emma who took Regina's hand and tugged her away from the podium a step. Interpreting the intense looks in green and brown eyes Snow realized they were going to kiss. Snow coughed.

Regina turned her head slowly; Emma jumped.

"I, uh… See you in an hour? With Henry, by the funnel cakes?"

"Yes."

"Okay."

"Emma," Snow began.

Her daughter looked quickly at her and shook her head. "Sorry, gotta go." She pulled the radio out of the back pocket of her jeans and turned it on. "On patrol."

"Oh. Right. Of course." Snow sat back down on her chair and silently watched Emma walk back down the steps and then disappear into the crowd. Occasionally she spotted her daughter with her distinctive blonde hair moving through the throng.

Microphone feedback screeched. Snow turned quickly to see and hear Regina tap the microphone. "I think," the brunette said into the device, "it is time to officially open Miner's Day."

People flowed toward the raised platform and Snow stood up. She searched faces to see their reactions to Regina and Snow standing next to her. There were smiles; there were curious looks. There were a few frowns, too.

"I've already been to many of the booths, so I want to say to the Storybrooke shopkeepers, thank you for being here today," Regina started. "Business is the economic heart of any town, but even moreso in Storybrooke where we must be so self-sufficient."

Regina turned to Snow. "I doubt you came here to hear me talk, however. And I really must sit down." She stepped out from behind the podium and rubbed her belly while turning to face Snow. "Snow, do you have a few words?"

"You want _me _to officially open Miner's Day?"

"The miners are _your _friends. After all, I've never cavorted with dwarfs." The dig was pure, classic, snarky Regina.

Snow bristled and stomped up to the podium. She had to force down her frown when she saw the bright smiles of the dwarfs looking up at her from the front row. Even Grumpy looked less grumpy than usual. Dopey waved at her. She felt chastened.

"Miner's Day was established to applaud those who work so hard beneath our city to support it. So, as your …" She felt awkward claiming the title queen. "Well, from the bottom of _my _heart, thank you all. Please enjoy the activities to celebrate friendship, loyalty and appreciation. Don't forget to buy a candle. The money goes to the Storybrooke Miners Guild Retirement Fund."

The applause following her remarks started with the dwarfs and continued with those standing nearby. Snow stepped back from the podium. Regina had stood again; Snow hurried past the woman and moved quickly down the platform steps. The dwarfs had circled the bottom step and she hugged each of them. Chatter came at her from every direction. Looking away while responding as often as possible, Snow watched Regina walk down the opposite steps while grasping the handrail. Then the brunette was swallowed by the festival crowd.

"Hey, Snow, thanks," Happy said. "The festival is really great this year."

"It's like every year," Grumpy said. "But yeah, it ain't bad, sister. Thanks."

Snow was suddenly aware that she had done literally nothing to prepare for the day. Even the last year of the curse, she had at least helped with selling candles. She looked in the direction Regina had disappeared. "Have any of you seen David?" she asked.

"I think I saw him at the tent for the animal shelter," Doc said.

Snow hurried off. At a junction in the many aisles of tents, she didn't know which way to turn. Quickly she took a map from a child walking past with a handful.

* * *

"Miz Regina?"

Regina looked up to find Marco and his redheaded son walking along the path toward her. She had been headed for an empty bench which she saw behind them. "Yes?" she rubbed her belly and her back.

"You need to sit down," Marco said immediately.

"I was headed for that bench there," Regina said, gesturing.

"Then, please." He backed up. After she moved past him, Marco and Pinocchio followed her to the bench. Pinocchio stood quietly tucked against his father's side, his big blue eyes studying her.

Once Regina had settled, Marco gestured beside her and asked, "May I?"

She nodded, distracted by rubbing at the ache in her back and abdomen from the baby's movement. "Was there something you needed?"

"No, no." Marco smiled at her. "I wanted to thank you for holding the festival. It is a wonderful day of leisure for my boy and me."

"I just sign the paperwork," Regina said. "But I'm glad." She looked at Pinocchio. Emma had told her this was the man August who had been turned back into a child by the Blue Fairy to save his life after Tamara had done something to him. "Hello," she started. "What do you enjoy most about the festival?"

"All the food!" The freckles competed with the rosy cheeks from his excitement.

With a laugh she said, "That's always Henry's favorite part too." She gave him a smile that wrinkled her nose, remembering Henry at that age so easily. "You should try the funnel cakes," she suggested. She held out a few coins. "My treat. If your father approves." She nodded toward Marco.

"Papa, may I?"

"You may." The boy's fingers slid over Regina's own to take the coins.

She smiled. He dipped his head and in a gesture that was clearly his father's influence, he removed his hat. "Thank you."

Marco stood, dipped his head and removed his hat also, putting his hand on Pinocchio's shoulder. "Thank you, Miz Regina. We wish you a good day."

"My pleasure." Regina watched father and son walk away, absently rubbing her stomach as she stretched her toes, wondering if she would be alone long enough to take off her shoes. Regina startled when there was a push against her hand. The baby was moving. She had felt shifting more and more often. But pushing or punching suggested the baby was uncomfortable, upset, or angry. Since she was calm, even happy, at the moment, she recognized the emotions flitting around the edge of her consciousness were not her own, but the baby's.

"What has you upset, darling?" She stroked softly over the spot where she'd felt the punch or kick. A frisson of energy skittered into her spine from her belly. Regina's eyes widened as she recognized that, too. _Magic_. "Are you hungry?" There was small movement again and another weaker jolt of energy. "We should find something to eat, hmm?"

Regina walked along the line of food trucks scanning their names and menus, trying to decide.

_The Pastrami Project_ served deli sandwiches. Simple sustenance, Regina thought. Unobjectionable. However, she moved on when the baby signaled no interest.

_Create Your Nature_'s salads were quite good, and Regina enjoyed their cranberry walnut fusion with raspberry vinaigrette. But the baby's emotions turned Regina's stomach sour at the thought. Okay, no salad.

_Hunger Street Tacos_, fill your own tacos. That could be pretty good, Regina thought. A little chicken, some Monterey jack cheese, beans… The baby kicked sending positive energy. Okay, one vote for.

_Pio Caribe_. Regina's mouth watered at the remembered flavor of the jerk chicken. Emma had brought her some for lunch a week ago when she asked for "protein with some bite." She had to inhale though when the baby angrily kicked her ribs. She sighed and rubbed the spot. "All right, darling, let's see what else there is."

_Hot Asian Buns_. Several choice Thai, Chinese, and Korean dishes wrapped in rice or soy flour sheets and then fried. Hmm, Regina considered. She did like beef broccoli. The baby's energy almost shrugged. It was the strangest feeling. Regina rubbed her stomach again. "Acceptable apparently, but not a big fan. Okay, darling."

_Midnight Sun Ice Cream_. Regina felt the baby's positive energy blossom and a very clear thought of sweetness filled her brain, actually making her mouth water. Regina sighed, but she shook her head. "Just like Miss Swan, you want your dessert before you've had your dinner. But we can return with Emma later, perhaps."

_Barnie's BBQ_, meats barbecued in several different American regional styles. A few were deliciously spicy, Regina recalled. The baby shifted and a warm energy filled her throat, bringing tears to Regina's eyes. Wow, okay. Barbecue it is. Regina walked to the service window and looked up at the white-aproned entrepreneur inside.

"I'd like… a platter of sliced chicken with the Carolina seasoning, please."

"Sure thing. That'll be eight dollars." She passed over a ten dollar bill and walked away with her food in a square-shaped paper bowl in one hand and a plastic fork and knife in the other.

She was settling down to the bench on one side of a wooden picnic table when she felt like someone was encroaching and looked up.

"Rumple," she said.

He didn't approach, simply standing there with both hands on the top of his cane. "You are enjoying the festivities, I see."

"Yes. Where are Belle and Baelfire?"

"Neal...is showing Belle an activity called Fishing Pole." he said, and the frustration with his son's choice not to use his Enchanted Forest name, filled Rumple's voice. 

Regina knew the carnival game that allowed children to "fish" for prizes very well; Henry had adored playing it as a child. "And you're not interested?"

"Not interested in fishing," Rumple replied. Looking down he tapped his cane across the top of his shoe then returned his gaze to Regina's.

"I'm surprised. Since you're quite obviously fishing for something now," Regina replied. The baby moved again. Regina resisted the desire to rub her stomach and draw Rumple's attention there. She sent only a gently thought _not now_. The baby didn't quiet.

"A courtesy call. Haven't had a chance to see how you're progressing."

"You're not my doctor."

"I'm well aware." He switched his cane to his other hand and tucked his fingers inside his suit's jacket pocket. "You seem to be adjusting to your new family _arrangement_."

Regina thought about Emma and Henry and _home_ and couldn't help but smile. The baby also energized her with a flush of love energy. Thankfully her coat was closed as she was certain her stomach was glowing slightly.

"No problems with the wee one?" He nodded toward her waistline.

Regina's fingers tightened around her fork. "The only problem I have is wondering what it is you _really_ want, Rumple. Do get to the point."

"Hey, Regina, sorry I'm late for lunch."

Regina looked up to see Emma rushing up. She smiled and thought, _no problems here._ Emma slowed as she reached the table.

Rumple turned from Regina with a measure of stiffness. "Ah, Miss Swan."

"Yep, that's my name." Regina bit her lip at Emma's smart-ass tone toward Rumple. The blonde smirked and sat down after turning her back on him.

Regina saw Rumple swallow, ruffle his hand in the pocket of his coat once more, then remove his hand again. He switched his cane back to the proper hand and took a step back. "Lovely chatting with you, Regina. Good day, Miss Swan."

"Leaving already? Did I interrupt something?" Emma looked at Regina. "Did you want him to stay?"

"No, I'm quite finished," Regina replied and stood.

"If you want, we can find Henry?" Emma suggested, collecting up Regina's trash.

Reaching for Emma's arm, Regina tucked her fingers around the elbow of the blonde's red leather jacket. "That sounds like an excellent idea."

Emma tossed the trash in a nearby can and the two of them left Rumple standing alone.

At a safe distance, Emma leaned close. "You really okay? I felt… well, baby was upset about something."

"She was. But she's better now," Regina assured. "And I'm fine."

"I know you say you can handle Gold, but I don't like it. I still think he's planning something."

"He may well be playing a long game we can't yet see," Regina admitted. "But he won't show his hand if you challenge him directly."

"Yeah." Emma patted Regina's hand on her arm. "So, I left Henry playing with Neal and Belle over at the ring toss."

Regina pushed at Emma's elbow. "Lead the way."

###


	21. Chapter 21

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Miner's Day. Part 2.  
_Content note: This is the CLIMAX, folks, and that means things get dicey for Regina, Emma, and their baby._

Sundown over Storybrooke's harbor was a pretty sight, Emma thought. She exhaled as she settled to the blanket on the grass by the waterfront next to Regina. They'd staked out a pretty good spot for watching the fireworks display that marked the official conclusion of the annual event. Henry leaned against Regina's other side, murmuring to her about his many activities throughout the day. She and Regina had caught up with him from time to time, but for the first time, he'd spent much of it with other children his age and even Neal. Emma glanced toward Regina to see that the brunette had closed her eyes and was now simply listening to Henry's voice while rubbing her stomach. Her thoughts, to Emma's relief, were calm and content. Regina didn't seem to be upset that Henry had spent so much of the afternoon with his father.

Soft fingers grasped Emma's hand and drew her from her thoughts. Emma looked at Regina's hand on hers and smiled when their palms moved over Regina's belly. _There_, she heard, _do you feel her_?

With only a small bit of surprise at the clarity in her mind's magic eye, Emma saw tiny arms and hands, and legs and feet moving. A smile appeared on tiny lips under closed eyes. _Hi, baby girl_, Emma thought and shifted her fingers to meet the tiny hand pushing outward. She lifted her gaze to Regina's. "She's restless."

"Reluctant to go to sleep," Regina suggested.

"Though mommy is quite tired," Emma noted. She directed a quieting thought toward the baby. "Maybe if we could name her, it'll help with the soothing."

Regina _oofed_ as the baby kicked. Emma's hand warmly caressed her belly. "What do you think of Laurel? Means wisdom and peace."

"Mmm," Regina sounded noncommittal.

Emma suggested another name. "How 'bout Rose?" She is a symbol of our love." She chuckled at Regina's blush.

The baby's response to her mother's voices was to become briefly more restless. Emma asked aloud, "Do you think she likes either name?"

"We'll have to keep trying." Regina sighed.

Henry said, 'How about Henrietta?"

Emma snorted. "No." She reached across Regina to ruffle his hair; he ducked away.

"Just a thought," he replied, offering a cheeky grin.

A musical score abruptly sounded through the pole-mounted speakers along the waterfront. The fireworks show was about to begin.

Emma turned her gaze skyward, still gently caressing Regina's belly. "Maybe she'd like Star," she murmured.

Jumping at the shriek of fireworks being launched, Emma lifted her face to the sky. Explosions of powder and a thin haze of smoke over the harbor became the backdrop for bursts of red, blue, green, white, and even gold.

Her head on Emma's shoulder, Regina ruminated on the name. "Princess Star." She hummed and soothed her hands over her protruding belly. "She is going to be the daughter of a princess and a queen," Regina added.

"I kind of forget about that," Emma admitted.

"Why were you thinking of a star then?" Regina asked.

"Because she sparkles. It's her magic, I guess, like a blanket of twinkling stars when I see her in my mind."

Regina nodded. They'd been unable so far to find a way to share Emma's ability to 'see' their daughter. But Emma would describe her frequently. They looked down as Emma's hand joined hers on her stomach. "What do you think, darling? Are you a Star?"

Under Emma's and Regina's fingers, the baby shifted and the energy was definitely positive. "Looks like we have a winner," Emma said with a small laugh.

"Our own little wishing Star," Regina murmured.

"Yeah," Emma agreed, resting her temple against Regina's as the last of the fireworks faded and the music ended. "Star Mills."

"Star Swan-Mills," Regina corrected softly.

Emma lifted her head. "Yeah?"

"Both of our names will be on the birth certificate, dear."

Emma felt a full rush of love when she processed Regina's words. "Thank you." She leaned closer to Regina.

Regina's hand clenched hers. "Not now."

Emma's heart constricted sharply, painfully. "No?"

"I only meant don't kiss me right now."

"Why not?"

"You're mother just stepped up to the platform to address the crowd. I think our kissing right in front of her might result in a heart attack." Brown eyes crinkled in the corners and Emma's heart expanded in her chest.

"Oh." Emma processed the whole of the conversation, spoken and not. "Oh," she said again, eloquent as always. Her cheeks heated with embarrassment.

Deep and sensuous, Regina's laughter pulled pleasantly at Emma's stomach. She smiled even after seeing her mother frown at them.

Henry smiled at Emma past Regina's shoulder. "Little sister's finally got a name," he said. "And my moms are officially together. Good day."

Emma laughed. Regina grasped Henry's hand, joining it with hers and Emma's on her stomach.

* * *

The news of Regina and Emma officially becoming a couple spread like wildfire through those nearby. Snow found herself pushed along on a tide of good will toward her daughter and her nemesis. The Blue Fairy's candle weighed heavily on her mind, not just her sweater pocket.

"Mom," Emma said.

"Emma." Though it pained her, Snow smiled. Seeking fortitude as she turned toward Regina, Snow fisted her hand around the candle in her pocket. "Regina," she said, following Regina's hand moving over her belly. There was no denying now that Regina was with child. The softness about her face, weariness around her eyes, and tilt to her posture all added up to a woman who nurtured another life. "Will you stop working once the baby is born?"

"Why should I? I raised Henry while being mayor."

"Things are different now."

"How so?"

"Well, you're… you'll need time to recover, won't you?"

"Mom, it'll be fine."

Regina winced. _Good_, Snow thought. _Feel guilty for taking my baby from me_.

Emma's hand slipped over Regina's onto the woman's stomach. Snow found herself staring at her daughter's chest when the woman pushed between her and Regina. Abruptly Emma gripped Snow's wrist painfully. "What's this?"

Snow swallowed and explained as Emma withdrew her hand and found her holding the candle. "I bought one of the Miner's Day candles."

"This isn't a standard candle," Emma said darkly. "Regina? Does this look like the one Blue showed you?" Lavender, white, and blue veins marbled through its cream surface. Eyes wide, Regina nodded. Emma's hand around it started to glow.

"What, what are you doing?" Snow asked. The candle was listing now, bending from the middle where Emma's magic warped it.

Emma's frown deepened, and she grit her teeth. "Ending this," she said. "Now."

A burst of light as bright as any of the fireworks exploded outward from Emma's fist. When the light faded and the spots stopped dancing behind Snow's eyelids, she opened her eyes to see Emma's empty palm; the candle had vanished.

"Emma?"

Snow watched Emma ignore her question and turn to Regina. "How are you feeling now?"

"Better," Regina said.

Emma turned back to Snow and demanded, "The Blue Fairy gave you this?"

Defensively, Snow said, "It would tell us if the baby's magic was light or dark."

"Star is light _and_ dark," Emma growled. "She's perfect."

"Star?"

"Yes," Emma growled. "We just decided on her name tonight."

Regina winced again; Emma turned around hard to find the threat she sensed. "Uh!" Regina's wince became a cry. Emma grasped Regina's shoulder at the same time she finally caught movement moving in. Too close.

"Thank you, dearie. Star? What a lovely name."

Emma surged between Gold and Regina, magic already glowing in her palm. It snuffed out when he casually moved his own hand.

"Ah, ah," the Dark One tut-tutted. He lifted a crystal from his pocket and it started to glow. Its many faces lit up in varying swirls of color. Lavender and white strands became lively. Regina's knees buckled and she fell to the ground with a cry.

Emma leaped, hand outstretched for the crystal; Rumple stepped aside. "Ah, ah, dearie. Now that I have a name, I don't need your connection to the child." Magic threw Emma aside and she landed several feet away from Regina.

Twining threads of color formed the core of a glowing line from the crystal to Regina's body. "No!" Emma and Regina both screamed. Regina clutched her belly. Emma leaped at Rumple again. When Gold moved closer to Regina the magical threads thickened; he cackled with glee.

"Mom! Ma!" Henry shouted. He too tried to reach Rumple but was flung to the pavement. Still on the ground, he suddenly shouted, "Dad!"

Emma turned to see where Henry was looking and caught the moment Neal blindside tackled his father. The two men crashed to the pavement. Dislodged, the crystal flew up in an arc. Emma tried to scramble under it as it fell toward the ground. She was too late. A massive energy wave erupted when the crystal struck the ground. When Emma could blink away the light spots dancing before her eyes again, she saw the crystal lay in pieces, some still dimly glowed, others had already faded out.

But it was Regina huddled protectively around her belly that made Emma cry out. "Regina!" She pushed off the ground and stumbled toward the brunette.

Struggling to rise on her hands, Regina reached for nearby pieces of crystal. "Magic," she breathed out, around her pain.

David hurried up. "What's going on?"

"Rumple," Regina gasped, even while she struggled to breathe around obvious pain.

When all eyes turned to Neal holding Gold, he vanished from his son's grip.

"Damn it!" Emma shot to her feet. "Find him!"

David said, "He could be anywhere."

"I don't care! He can't do this!" Emma started to close her eyes to seek Rumple by tracking his magic like she had when playing hide and seek with Regina.

Blue stepped forward and grasped Emma's hand. "We will find him." She turned to her cohorts and made a gesture. Instantly the nuns shifted, becoming butterfly-sized glowing fairies. "Signal when you have him and I will find the cuff."

Snow was aghast. "Why would Rumple attack the baby?"

The Blue Fairy exhaled as her fellow fairies flew off in search of the Dark One. "Regina and Emma's child is unique. She has both their magic. Dark magic is always hungry for more." Emma remembered Regina's fear that her dark magic would doom their child.

"The magic, Star," Regina murmured. "Pieces," she murmured, scrabbling.

Snow crouched instantly to the brunette's side. "Regina?" Her plea was plaintive and pained. Tearful brown eyes begged her for help. "What can I do?" The brunette went back to gathering up the crystal shards scattered around her. Snow took off her scarf and started to pile the pieces upon it.

Panicking, Emma started threateningly toward the Blue Fairy. "You've been coming after Star's magic too!" Emma accused. "After the damn candle, why should we trust you?" She turned her back on Blue and reached down to Regina once more.

The woman held up a hand. "I swear it, Savior. The candle was only to read her magic," Blue explained. "The crystal stole it."

"Just read?" Then why did Regina feel so awful every time? She and Regina had been so sure Rumple was just a nuisance, and Blue was the threat. "I have to find Gold. Make him fix this."

Regina was breathing heavily in Snow's arms and suddenly gripped her belly in alarm. "Emma!" Snow called. Emma turned her full attention to Regina.

"Rumple was taking the baby's magic," Blue explained. "She's weakened now and taking everything from Regina."

"Emma, help Regina," David said. "We'll take care of Gold."

Flush with anger and fear, Emma angrily started toward David and Snow.

"Em." The brunette's weakened voice spun Emma around, completely ignoring her parents. Emma met Regina's eyes filled with tears. Regina took Emma's hand with a tight, painful grip. Immediately the connection started siphoning off Emma's magic. And the Savior fell to her knees. "Ah!"

Snow stood and kissed Emma's head. "Stay," she murmured. She even smiled at Regina before she hurried off with David and Blue.

When she could lift her head, Emma worried, "Regina, what do we do?"

"I... need..." Star no longer was content to only take magic. The situation obviously dire, she had tapped into Regina's life energy, too. The lively light in the brunette's brown eyes flickered, like a candle hit with strong winds.

"Okay. Let's get to the hospital." Emma picked up Regina. Sending her worry higher, Emma felt the normally strong, independent brunette clutch her arms around Emma and bury her face in Emma's shoulder. Emma exhaled and inhaled and drew on every feeling of protection and love she had for Regina and Star.

She closed her eyes, picturing the hospital. A flash of magic lightning exploded a nearby lamp. Emma and Regina vanished in a pure white cloud.

* * *

Emma knew she was shaking, knew she was leaking magic - the potted fern in the corridor had blossomed the moment she passed, running alongside Regina's gurney toward the emergency room. _Damn it. Damn it! DAMN IT!_ Emma punched a wall after the doors swung shut behind Whale and the hospital staff. The drywall cracked and a fluorescent light stick above brightened, then shattered.

"Shit!" Emma shook the glass dust from her hair.

Someone burst through the doors and Emma turned with a stance to deal with a threat.

"Emma!"

Magic spiraled out of her hands and shoved Neal and Henry on his heels against the wall. Shocked, she fisted her hands, closed off the magic flow, and rushed forward.

"God, I'm sorry! Henry!"

"Is Mom all right?" Henry asked as she caught him up in her hands.

"They're looking at her right now." She turned on Neal. "Where's Gold?"

He shook his head. "We found him. Dad's locked up."

"What makes you think he'll stay put?"

"I…" Neal looked at his hands then back up at Emma. "I put the cuff on him. The one Pan had. Belle and Blue are with him."

"Ma," Henry asked. "What about Star?"

Emma looked up mutely at Neal.

"Okay. C'mon." Neal wrapped his arm around Henry's shoulder and turned him back toward the entrance. "We'll wait out here. Let your moms work on this, okay?"

Henry looked back over her shoulder, but Emma couldn't bring herself to even smile. He offered her a quirk of his lips, so like Regina's that Emma gasped.

"Emma?"

She turned to see Dr. Whale leaning out of the swinging door. Without another word, Emma slipped past him to the space beyond.

Regina lay on a gurney. Someone had thought to tuck another pillow under her head. She had been given an IV, and the fetal monitor band had been settled around her belly. The ultrasound machine stood next to the gurney. Emma rushed to Regina's side and grasped her fingers atop her rounded belly. "Hey," Emma said.

"I can't," Regina whispered, eyes leaking tears, but she was took weak to lift her head. "She's so... I can't feel her, Emma."

"Tell me what to do?"

"I don't... know... She's… taken everything I…" Regina bit her trembling lip. Energy sapped entirely, the brunette's hair was lank, and she looked frail with her cheeks hollowed and skin sallow. "Help... her...Em."

Emma kissed Regina's lips, feeling how chilled they were. "You stick with me, okay?" She gripped Regina's hand and laid her other open palm against the woman's distended belly. "Hey, Star baby, your mommas are here." Resting her head against Regina's, Emma closed her eyes searching for the baby with her magic sight. "We're here."

"It's more than... magic... energy," Regina said. "The IV isn't… Rum- he took so-so much."

Emma nodded. "Okay." She inhaled to a count of three, then exhaled to a count of five. The only thing she could equate giving life energy with was CPR. She'd given Star boosts from her magic for months now. That process she knew. But the sparkling essence of her daughter which she usually connected with wasn't there. _Star?_ she queried. A fog rose inside Emma's head. Searching deep within it, Emma called for her daughter.

Magic twinkled; without a life force to tether it though, it was an out of control swirl. Emma tried to gather it in her arms. She now understood Regina's scrambling on the pavement. It was like little wisps in the air. If only she could pull enough of it together...

Gradually Emma sensed a different energy. Not magic, more raw: life. She saw the umbilical cord linking Regina and Star sucking and throbbing as Star pulled everything she could from Regina's body. But even that didn't seem to be enough. Regina was gasping for every one of her breaths. Star was going to kill Regina if she didn't have another source.

That meant, without drastic measures, Emma was going to lose them both. "Star, I'm here. Take mine," she begged.

Regina's grip on Emma's hand weakened and Emma squeezed harder to hold onto her lover. The brunette laid back with a labored exhale.

Emma's throat clogged with tears but she strained to get past it. "Hey! Baby girl." _Star!_ her mind screamed. Her fingers moved in Regina's. She laid her lips against Regina's belly and kissed. Sparks of magic hovered in to the air. She breathed out; The baby turned toward it. Regina whimpered as the action stressed her weakened body. A flicker of connection to Emma started to form, but then faded again. Emma put her hand on her heart, thinking about the blood and life beating in it, and added that to her focus on their daughter.

"Star. Love," she murmured. _So much love_, she thought. The flicker brightened a bit, tendrils reappearing. "Anything I have, _everything_ I have, sweetheart, it's yours. All you gotta do is find me. Take from me. Let Regina be, okay?"

Emma gasped the moment she felt the connection fully form. A kaleidoscope of energy, both magic and life, became a tether with Star's second mother. Emma had no idea what it looked like outside her squeezed shut eyes, but here it looked and felt like a thick rope from the Jolly Roger was being pulled out of her belly. It felt like both her blood and her magic were being sucked out. Her head swam and she felt faint; a pinprick in her arm signaled someone had stuck an IV in her arm.

The connection between Emma and Star grew thicker, brighter. It appears as thick as Emma's arm in her mind's eye, coming out of her chest. Emma fought through the pain to see Star. Finally the beautiful face of their baby girl appeared to her, but it was pinched with mouth wide. Star's fingers gripped the magic, and her mouth seemed to be sucking in a cyclone. Star herself looked like a photograph overlaid with an ultrasound picture: Regina's brown hair and Emma's green eyes -but skin and bones sickly shades of gray. The baby's heart barely moved.

Emma exhaled; the baby's chest expanded and gained brief color in Emma's mind's eye, like an oil slick hit by light. Emma breathed in and moved Regina's fingers with hers along where she knew was the baby's back. "Come on."

"Ah!" Opening her eyes, Emma found Regina's brown ones brimming with tears. "Em!"

Emma pushed more life energy at their daughter. "Come on, come on."

"Em! Ah!" Regina screamed. Emma kissed her and a kaleidoscope of color burst forth from her mouth to Regina's.

Immediately she felt Regina's struggle to breathe ease. "Thank God." She kissed Regina again, tiny trails of magic flowing between them.

"Star," Regina breathed.

Regina closed her eyes. Emma felt Regina attempting to twine her faint magic with Emma's. Consciously or not, the two magics sought one another out, weaving over and under, back and forth. Slowly a blanket formed of lavender and white around Star. Emma listened to Regina's breathing and her own gradually synchronizing. The blanket of light began fading. Emma tried grasping after it, worried and feeling it shouldn't leave. Star still needed it, needed them.

The light sank into the baby, a smoke in her nostrils and sparkles making her chest expand and fall then expand again. Star's heart filled with the kaleidoscopic pattern of light.

After an eternity in which Emma and Regina both struggled to give everything, the heart pulsed once. They both jumped at the sound of the heartbeat from the fetal monitor.

Regina and Emma clutched at one another, with one shared thought: _Star_. The monitor beeped again.

"Please," Emma murmured.

"Love," Regina whispered.

"Love," Emma echoed.

Another beat.

Then another.

And another.

Finally the beats occurred at a regular rhythm. Whale critically studied the readout. "I don't believe it."

Emma lowered her brows angrily at him.

"No, no. It's… good. The baby seems to be … all vital signs are now normal."

Relief flooded Emma. When she tried to rise though, her knees gave out and she stumbled. The baby had taken nearly everything. A nurse caught her arm but she still landed hard on her knees on the floor next to the gurney. She waved away an oxygen mask, but her breathing and Regina's remained labored. She put her head down to fend off the headache and dizziness.

_Star's okay._ Emma's tears flowed with her relief.

Gently Regina's fingers touched Emma's shoulder. Emma weakly lifted her hand and caught Regina's fingers, kissing the knuckles, tasting Regina's salty tears and the sweet, sweet taste of her lover.

Finally Emma felt she could lift her head. "Hey," she tried to sound strong, but it came out barely a whisper. Regina looked extremely pale and Emma brushed her hair from her eyes. "How are you?"

The brunette didn't answer right away. She inhaled, then exhaled. As tears dripped down her cheeks, she said, "I could sleep for a week."

"Yeah." She felt like she needed a gallon of coffee and a week of sleep.

After taking another round of Regina's vital signs, the nurse removed Regina's IV and then did the same to Emma. "We will monitor things tonight. Dr. Whale ordered the mayor moved up to a room."

Once the nurse and Whale had both left and they were alone, Emma laid her head on Regina's chest and listened to the steady monitored beep of their daughter's heart and Regina's own heart thumping under her ear. The brunette's fingers sifted through Emma's hair. Slowly, she lifted her head. "I love you."

"I know that." Regina cupped Emma's hand against her belly and they both felt Star moving. "Star knows that, too."

"Ma, are you proposing?"

From her hunched position by the gurney, Emma turned to see Henry holding the swinging door partially open. "Who let you back here, kid?"

Henry stepped inside. "Dr. Whale. He said mom and Star are going to be okay."

"Yeah." Emma hugged him and then watched him lean over the gurney and hug his mother. "Still…"

"So are you guys talking about getting married?" Henry asked.

Emma looked down at position and realized Henry must have thought she was on one knee proposing. She thought about that. If they were married, everyone would have to accept their relationship. "It's not a bad idea."

"It's a terrible idea, Emma."

"But it would make it absolutely clear that we're a family," Henry said.

"Kid-" Emma started. She knew Regina's objection to marriage was rooted in her past, but she really was too drained to have this conversation.

"You guys just saved each other. That's worth celebrating, right?"

"This isn't time for us to plan a party, kid."

"So let me plan it."

"You?" Emma asked.

"Yeah." Henry smiled at her and rubbed Regina's shoulder. "I hadn't really figured out how to show you how much I'm looking forward to Star joining our family. This is a good way."

Emma looked at Regina. "What do you think?" The brunette's eyes shined with more tears.

Regina bit her lip and nodded. "I…" She looked at Henry. "You can't possibly do such a thing all by yourself."

"I already know who to get to help!" Henry grinned. "Gotta go!" He kissed Regina's cheek, then Emma's, and ran back out the door.

"He's enthusiastic," Regina said.

"Yeah." Emma leaned on the edge of the gurney and looked down at Regina.

Regina sat up slowly, rotating her body around her middle. "Tired."

Tired was an understatement. Emma rolled her eyes. "What are you doing? Whale's moving you up to a room."

"I am not staying here. I want to sleep for a week. I can do that far more comfortably in our bed."

Pushing herself up against Regina's gurney, and standing between her legs, belly to bigger belly, Emma leaned forward and kissed Regina's lips. "I'd like to argue with that, but I really don't have the energy ... Let's go home."

###


	22. Chapter 22

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Emma and Regina share more couple-y time, put issues with Rumple and Blue behind them, and share an evening picnic.

"Class time," Emma said, coming in the mayor's office as Jeremy trailed behind. The brunette was walking around the office, talking aloud to... no one.

Emma bit her lip containing her laughter until she heard, "And, George, if you ever darken my door with such an inane request again, I will blast you-" Emma snorted; Regina cut herself off and hurried over to the desk where she clicked something on her laptop.

"What are you doing here?" Clearly embarrassed to be caught taking Emma's advice of walking and dictating her reports, Regina sounded peeved.

Emma chuckled and started walking forward. "Stop doing mayor stuff. Time to go."

"Did you take Henry home?"

Shaking her head, but before Regina's frown could appear, Emma explained, "Left him with Ruby. They're working on more party plans."

Regina put a hand under her belly and used the other to rub ineffectively at her strained lower back.

The signal of discomfort was clear even if Emma hadn't 'heard' it through their connection. "Come here," she said gently. Regina leaned on the desk and presented her back to the blonde. Strong fingers dug into her tensed muscles and circled slowly. "How long were you walking around," Emma asked.

"Most of what I do is desk work."

"Still, you're not in as much pain, right?"

Regina leaned into Emma's hands on her back and sighed. "You're right." Thankfully the blonde didn't gloat; Regina felt a kiss on her cheek.

From the doorway, the women heard a throat clear. When they turned toward the sound, Jeremy, Regina's assistant, asked, "Madam Mayor, will that be all for today?" 

She exhaled and leaned across her desk, tapping several keys. "I've sent you the file with George's letter. Once that's typed up, you can call it a day."

"Yes, ma'am. Thank you."

"Good." Emma's arm slipped around Regina's back and guided her toward the door. "So, Jeremy, you coming to the party?"

The young man stopped in the process of turning around to leave. "Party, Sheriff?"

"Yeah. The Mills-Swan baby bash. It's a week from Saturday."

"The invitation on my desk was for me?"

"Who'd you think it was for?"

"The mayor."

"Regina doesn't need an invitation to her own baby shower," Emma said.

"Jeremy, I would be pleased to have you there," Regina added.

"Thank you, ma'am. I will give serious consideration to attending." He sat back down at his desk as the three of them reached it. "Enjoy your class."

* * *

"Jeremy is completely in love with you," Emma said. She held the door for Regina to enter the hospital annex. Together they walked down the corridor.

"He is not," Regina said. "He knows I'm with you because he always clears my lunch so we can eat together."

"I don't mean he's competition," Emma replied easily. "It's all the little things. Look how quickly he agreed to transcribing recordings for you."

"Of course, he works for me."

Emma rolled her eyes. "Okay, fine. Don't see it." She held open a door next to a sign that said conference room 12. "We're here." A hum of conversation ceased as Emma stepped across the threshold. Or rather, when Regina did. Emma just didn't have the gravitas to silence a room.

"We're not late." Regina's statement was meant both as ice breaker and to have the last word with Emma.

"No, we're not late." Emma stated back with a smile. Getting the last word. Regina held out her bag and Emma put it on a stack of chairs in the corner where a number of other bags, large and small, had also been stacked.

"Good evening, Regina, Emma." A man in jogging pants and wearing an unzipped jogging jacket, stood up from a chair at the far side of the room. Other pregnant pairings like herself and Emma had turned around in their chairs positioned in a semi-circle, to see them. Chester walked up. The dark-skinned man smiled at them warmly. "How are you feeling tonight?" he asked, looking specifically at Regina.

"I'm fine." She looked away from Emma's shaking head.

"No queens and commoners here," Chester said. "Everyone's a laborer, remember?"

"Yes," Regina said quietly. "Good evening," she offered to the group.

"Good evening," and "hello," came back in scattered voices.

"Okay, so let's get started," Chester said, rubbing his hands together and leading the way back into the semi-circle of chairs. There were two empty on the end where Regina and Emma took their seats.

"Good evening, moms and coaches. Today's topic is recognizing signs of labor." He stood and grabbed a dry erase marker, separating the board into three sections which he labeled, no, maybe, and yes. Regina's fingers itched to take notes.

"Turn on your phone's voice record," Emma said in a low voice. "Jeremy will transcribe them for you."

Regina hissed back. "My phone is in my bag."

"So, relax. If Chester thought notes were necessary, he'd say so."

Regina practiced a calming technique as Emma put her hand on her shoulder, a signal that they'd worked out. But her mind worried over the matter for several more seconds. They had received many pamphlets and printouts during classes the last several weeks. Regina had read and reread and marked each one studiously. Emma read one or two then set them aside.

A note card pressed into her hand bringing Regina out of her reverie. She looked up to see Chester's dark face smiling at her. Emma also received a card. "What is this?" She turned it over in her hand and found a magnet on one side.

Chester replied, "Go on up to the board and put it where you think it goes."

"But you're teaching us."

Chester nodded. "Yes, but the onset of labor isn't an exact science. There are some definite things all laborers experience, but signs can be tricky, because everyone's tolerance of pain, their daily routine, even their awareness or their partner's awareness of their body, is different."

"Oh." Regina looked at the words on her card trying to make sense of them. _Braxton-Hicks contractions_.

Next to her, Emma glanced down and looked back up at the board. Regina glanced at the card and saw the words, _Cramping low in the abdomen_.

"We have the same thing."

"Maybe, maybe not. Chester taught us a few weeks ago there's false labor, Braxton-Hicks," Emma said. 'Can feel like cramping but higher up."

"And the muscles are hard, like a basketball," Regina remembered. "How can you tell the difference?" she worried.

"I can't, Regina, it's your body. Only you can," Emma said quietly.

"How will I know? What are some other things that signal labor?" Regina asked; she was trying and failing to keep worry from her voice. She sought Emma's eyes with a silent plea.

"My water broke the morning I went into labor with Henry." Emma put a gentle hand on Regina's knee, a signal they'd decided for regaining focus and centering their attention. "Look at the board though. Everyone else has their ideas already up."

Regina turned. No one was looking at them, but a red headed man was walking back to his red headed wife. No one else stood at the board placing magnetic notes. The cards were arranged across the dry erase board's surface, sorted into three uneven categories.

Emma took both cards. "Where do you want me to put them?"

"Put the Braxton-Hicks in no, and the cramps in maybe," Regina said.

Emma nodded and Regina watched as the blonde walked up to the board and placed the cards where Regina had requested.

The class continued and Regina exhaled as the discussion did clear up some confusion. Chester passed around a basketball and they talked about bands and contractions and saw a video following a couple through a week of early labor. The doctor on the video stood from examining the woman's cervix and said, "We're ready to go to delivery." 

Chester stopped the DVR. "That's all for tonight," he said. "Go home and talk about your planning for each of events leading up to labor. Then pack your overnight bags if you haven't already. Finally, get some sleep, laborers. You're going to need it."

Regina walked up to the board and studied the various cards again, thinking about the video while the rest of the room's occupants cleared out in a cacophony of conversation.

"Regina?"

"I felt sharp pain, worse than cramps, when, when we … when Rumple's crystal was draining her," Regina said quietly, knowing it was Emma alone behind her.

"I know." Emma's hands slipped around Regina's belly and she felt the blonde's sturdy body all along her back.

"Are you sure it was destroyed?" Regina asked.

"Yes, I had Belle - who isn't speaking to Rumple by the way - assure me all of it is gone."

"What did Blue say about the candle?"

"She still claims it wasn't meant to mess with the baby's magic, just identify it. I made her use it on me, and nada, nothing happened."

Regina could hear the anger in Emma's voice, and also felt the barely held back emotions roiling throughout the blonde's body. "Will it happen again?"

"I threatened to cuff her," Emma said, referring to the magic cuff Regina herself had suffered, and which now sat on Rumple's wrist while he sat in Storybrooke's jail. The council was debating throwing him over the line. Emma's thoughts told Regina she was contemplating the same for the Blue Fairy. "I got her promise."

"Regina? Emma?" Chester stood by the doorway. "Something else you need, ladies?" The dark-skinned man wore casual, coaching sweats, since he spent much of his time up and down off the floor as he spoke up close with all the practicing parents-to-be going through their exercises.

"Nah. We're fine," Emma said. Regina walked away to collect her purse and listened to Emma talking with Chester. "Thanks for everything tonight."

"You're quite welcome," he said. He looked toward Regina, obviously having heard her shoes on the parquet. "Regina." He held out his hand; she took it lightly. "I don't know if it will help much, but this isn't the Enchanted Forest. Modern medicine is pretty wonderful."

"Were you a physician in the old world?" Emma asked.

"No, my mother was a midwife, and her mother before her."

"So you've seen a lot of deliveries?" Regina asked.

"Yeah. Here and there. Trust me, you'll be better than fine."

Regina dropped his hand and stepped past him, and past Emma, through the door. Turning back, she said, "Thank you."

"You're welcome."

* * *

Pulling up the driveway to the Mifflin Street house, Emma looked over at Regina in the passenger seat of the Benz. Just after Miner's Day they realized she could no longer fit behind the steering wheel. The brunette leaned one elbow on the edge of the window frame and looked out. The music station finished a song, some pop 80s hit that was Regina's preference. Emma had been an infant then, and preferred 90s music, but the familiar tunes always seemed to put a bit of a swagger back in the brunette at the end of a long, tiring day. _This song maybe..._

"We should put together a playlist," Emma suggested. "Something you can play to relax."

"_Sweet Dreams_, dear?" Regina replied, referencing the song's title.

"Yeah, it's very positive."

"You think I need to be more positive?"

"You're tired, I know, but you're also depressed, I think."

"I am _not _depressed."

"Okay, but… you are dwelling on all the things that can go wrong. Chester's right. Modern medicine is pretty good."

"You were in a lot of pain from Henry's birth."

"I was also _cuffed _to the bed," Emma replied tightly. "That will _not _happen here. I promise."

Regina's jaw set and Emma sighed. "Come on. It's after 7:00 already, you need some dinner." Emma didn't know how to fully reassure Regina about everything. She knew some of it was just hormones. Even the birthing class had pointed out the third trimester was commonly another volatile period for emotions. Emma had punched her pillows a lot in prison, along with a number of women who cut in front of her in chow line or bugged her in the exercise yard.

"I'm sorry, Emma," Regina said.

Emma sighed again. She stopped on the stoop and grasped Regina's hands in both of her own. Her thoughts had clearly been picked up by Regina. This connection through Star was definitely both blessing and curse. "Don't be. I get it."

"But you shouldn't be getting it from me," Regina said reasonably. "I'm sorry." Emma unlocked the door and started to push it open. "I'm going to the kitchen to cook. What would you like for dinner?"

"Don't need anything," Emma said. "I grabbed a bear claw on my way to city hall."

"A bear claw?"

"Yeah."

"That's no dinner, Emma Swan! I'm going to make you and Henry something proper right now."

"Would this be nesting, Regina?" Emma teased while the brunette dragged her forward then, after a reconsideration, got behind Emma and started shoving.

Regina insisted, "You _must _take care of yourself. Star and I are not doing this without you."

Emma let Regina push her another couple of steps until there was a convenient wall. Then in a gentle turnabout, she had the brunette up against the wall, thigh pushing between her legs. Hands holding Regina's wrists above her head, she nipped at dark plump lips with kisses.

The brunette very quickly started rubbing along Emma's leg and the heat from the brunette's center quickly ratcheted up Emma's own arousal.

"You're not going to be without me," Emma said, giving Regina's lips one final soft tender kiss. "You wanna go upstairs after dinner?"

"I should eat something," Regina said and the scattered tone in her voice made Emma smile. She followed Regina into the kitchen where the brunette rummaged in the refrigerator and retrieved an orange, and a high protein vanilla shake. "It's my last one."

"I'll get you more tomorrow. That gonna be enough?"

"Can we sit under my apple tree and watch the sunset?"

"You bet," Emma replied. Without being told, Emma grabbed an apple for herself then a can of soda. Regina looked at her judgmentally. 'It's ginger ale. And it's _diet._"

Regina's reaction was to gloat; Emma rolled her eyes then followed the brunette out to the back yard.

Regina sat down on the bench Emma had magicked there two months earlier when another impromptu evening picnic desire had formed. Emma leaned back, crossed her feet at the ankles, and took a bite of apple.

"I miss my feet," Regina said, staring at Emma's.

"They're still where you left them," Emma replied.

"You know what I mean." Regina peeled the orange on top of her belly and tossed the rinds into the dirt around the tree. Emma had asked about that before and been told rind was good compost.

While Regina nibbled on a section of orange, Emma leaned forward and looked down at the other woman's feet, noticing she had no sneakers. "You magicked off your own shoes."

"Yes, it seems I'm getting back some of my customary control."

"That's good," Emma said. She exhaled, listening to the cicadas and the few cars driving by on the residential street.

"What about my feet?" Regina wriggled her toes.

"What about them?"

"I can't see them, but they feel like balloons."

Emma stifled a laugh. "Yeah. Well, I can see 'em just fine. They're not balloons. And they're very nice."

"Will you rub them?"

"I can do that." Emma reached over and tucked a lock of Regina's loose hair behind her ear then soothed down her shoulder. "How's your back?"

"Achy."

Emma moved behind Regina and her fingers dug into the aching spots with unerring precision. "I will massage your back whenever you want."

"Thank you." Regina laid her head back against Emma's shoulder and stared up through the apple tree branches to the stars beyond. A peace settled into her and she exhaled.

"You're welcome." Emma rested her hands on Regina's belly and kissed her cheek sweetly.

"Mom! Ma! I'm home!"

Emma looked back toward the house to see Henry standing backlit in the doorway waving. "Good, kid!" she called back. "Your mom and I will be in a bit."

"Did Granny feed you dinner?" Regina asked.

"Yeah," he replied.

"Have you finished your homework?"

"That's done too."

"All right. Shower than bed."

"It's only 8:00," Henry protested.

Emma glanced to Regina. "Read something. No video games," she added, voicing Regina's thoughts, which they both preferred to arguing aloud. Though Emma was beginning to see a lot of the issues the same way Regina did and the disagreements were minimal. "Read. Or do something else quiet until 9:00."

Henry didn't seem to object; in fact he smiled at the two of them out in the yard. "You guys have fun. Good night, Mom. Good night, Ma."

"Good night, Henry," Regina said. "I love you."

"Love you, Mom. Ma."

The light spill into the back yard ceased when Henry returned inside and closed the door. Regina tucked her head onto Emma's shoulder. "You're making a wonderful mother, Emma."

'You too, Regina. You too."

Under their palms on Regina's belly, Star projected her own loving thoughts and the three of them drifted for a while in a mutual haze of emotions.

###


	23. Chapter 23

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Long chapter ahead. We're in the final stretch. Regina and Emma are still caught up in linked magic, thoughts, and feelings, including arousal. Then the baby shower demonstrates how many people have finally come around about the women's relationship and their forthcoming child.

Regina exhaled and inhaled to a steady mental count while rubbing her lower back and walking slowly around her office space at city hall. Finally, she swiped a water bottle from the table and drank deeply, brushing sweat from her neck. Henry was entering junior high and already thinking about colleges. Though it was years away, Regina fretted about her children and their future. Was she really prepared for this? Star would be entering school just as Henry left. Not just school but Storybrooke. No matter what he chose to study, no matter what college, every path led _out_ of Storybrooke. Out of her life. She sat on the sofa and hugged her stomach, tears streaming down her face. "Your bedroom will be all ready for you soon," she murmured. "Emma put up the wallpaper yesterday."

Emma was good with tools and enjoyed the hands-on approach to completing their daughter's room. Despite the fact that magic could have it done in mere minutes, she had gotten Regina on board with the "old fashioned" way. Though her condition had meant that she could only set out items, or move small things around, Regina enjoyed selecting tapestries, pictures, and toys, while Emma assembled furniture and shelves.

But every action reminded her of preparing for Henry's arrival; she'd cried over more than one tiny item that reminded her of how much she loved her son, _her baby_.

Henry for his part didn't pull away from Regina when she simply had to go and find him and hug him. She seldom said much, but she knew all too often she soaked the collars of his shirts with her tears. He'd kiss her cheeks, and send her to "go find Ma."

Emma, too, would simply hold Regina. They no longer needed to talk much. Regina's emotions and thoughts seemed to be on constant "broadcast" through their link. Whenever she tried to explain aloud how this made her feel vulnerable and too exposed, Emma would simply hold her more securely, hands tucked around Regina's girth and her chin propped on Regina's shoulder, warm breath against Regina's neck until the... panic and chaos settled to quiet in Regina's mind. They'd breathe together; Emma would slide her fingers through Regina's hair and gently massage by her ear.

Yesterday, Regina had once again needed almost an hour of reassurance like this. But finally, the ring of Emma's cell phone had forced the end of the moment. So Emma had gone to shower and change clothes and gone in to the Sheriff's Department to handle some matter. Regina had spent the day in her robe and walked around the nursery and the yard, describing the textures, colors, and smells to Star. When the baby's kicking stopped and she felt a happy burst of energy, Regina had gone back upstairs and laid down to sleep. She slept _so _much lately.

The smell of hot coals and hickory had woken Regina later that afternoon. She found Emma and Henry already out in the back yard preparing the grill for burgers. She remembered sitting at the picnic table and marveling at the contentment of watching her son and his other mother talk over the flames.

A knock sounded at Regina's office door and ended her reverie. "Come in."

Emma opened the door and leaned in. "Ready for lunch?"

"I was just thinking about last night's dinner," Regina replied as Emma entered the office.

"Last night's burgers _were _good," Emma agreed. Then she reached Regina and wrapped her arms around her shoulders, pressed her body to her hip and side in a hug, and they kissed. "Henry's becoming quite the grillmaster."

Regina hummed as Emma's kisses resumed trailing down her throat.

"You know, sometimes I…" The blonde murmured against her collarbone, her breaths making Regina want that pouty lipped mouth somewhere else. "I can't tell if you are horny, I'm horny, or if Star's just hungry for more magic," Emma finished.

"Our lunch break should take place at the mansion," Regina said breathlessly because, yes, just like Emma, she was growing hornier by the moment.

"All right. Leave a message for Jeremy, and I'll poof us there," Emma said. She left Regina and closed the door. By the time she was back next to Regina, the note had been typed and transmitted to Jeremy's email. A distant ping signaled its electronic arrival.

"Enjoy your lunch," her assistant spoke up loudly from outside the door.

Regina turned into Emma's embrace and felt the resonant hum of the blonde's magic already rising in the air, and Star's magic blossoming in answer within her. A glow briefly blotted out their surroundings, then she and Emma were in their bedroom at the mansion.

The blonde lowered to her knees, taking down Regina's panties from beneath her dress as she went. Sneakers were removed, kisses were dabbled on inner thighs. Regina sat on the side of their bed. She leaned back and Emma absently waved a hand manifesting a stack of pillows so Regina could sit back and relax. Then Emma removed her dress, kissed down Regina's chest, mouthing skin and tonguing nipples. Regina felt them stiffen and noticed a bit of leakage which Whale had warned might happen. But then Emma was spreading her legs and Regina ceased thinking, only feeling.

"God, you're so fucking wet." Emma hummed against her soaked labia.

"Then _fuck_ me," Regina demanded. She seldom cursed but this situation definitely called for it. Her blood was screaming for Emma's knowledgeable touch and her body throbbed painfully. She threshed her fingers through Emma's hair while the blonde's tongue licked and swirled and plundered. Regina gasped and keened.

Emma coaxed her up further on the bed and then on her side. "Need a better angle," she said. "Make you feel great."

Laying on her side one knee raised, Regina could no longer see past her belly to Emma's head. She patted for it. Emma grasped her hand. She tried to twist, only able to see the light and fan on the ceiling. Frustrated, Regina flung a hand upward and replaced the fan and light with a mirror. "That's better."

Emma brushed her fingers on a glint of light on Regina's skin and then glanced toward the window and finally the ceiling, spotting the mirror. "Watching turns you on as much as the actual touches, hmm?" she said. She leaned back and they smiled at their reflections.

"You are _so_ beautiful," Regina said. Emma rose, sliding over Regina's hip and along her back until Regina's fingers could press against her cheek. "I've always thought so."

"Was that before or after you tried to drive me out of town?" Emma teased.

"Before _and _after."

Emma chuckled and kissed her then pressed her fingers between Regina's legs and Regina hummed her pleasure into their next kiss. Rocking on Emma's fingers she rode a slow steadily building wave of sensations to an orgasm that just seemed to ripple from her middle outward to all her limbs. She sighed deeply.

"You're the beautiful one." Emma nuzzled into her throat.

Regina's heart thudded and her groin throbbed pleasantly around Emma's fingers.

* * *

Emma rolled away carefully after checking that Regina slept soundly. Stress from work was a hard thing to disengage from for both of them, but Regina needed to nap. The pregnancy was now in its final weeks. Star moved more and more, and all tests had shown her at full development. The result was Regina was often too uncomfortable to sleep for long stretches of time. But the walking, Emma's advice which Regina had finally taken, did seem to help. They drove to Granny's but pretty much walked everywhere else together. She had also found the brunette pacing in her office when she arrived for lunch today.

Out of bed, Emma pulled the sheet up and covered Regina's nude figure, knowing the woman needed the guard against the chill though Emma could have sat and drunk in the brunette's voluptuous body for hours. Finally rising to her feet, she looked down and realized she still wore all her clothes. Regina's fluids had smeared on her jeans. Time for a change of clothes. One of the hazards of only one of them stripping down, but while Regina enjoyed naked sex - they both did - sometimes the friction between fabric and flesh was more desirable.

Donning new jeans and a gray blouse, Emma felt refreshed. After listening that Regina still breathed slow and deep in sleep, she headed downstairs to prepare a snack for when Regina awoke.

Her cellphone buzzed. "Yeah?"

"Are you and Regina at the mansion?" Ruby asked.

"Yeah, it's our lunch break. What's up?"

"Can you keep her upstairs? We're headed over to set up for the baby shower."

"Now? She's napping."

"It won't take long, we've got lots of hands."

"Let us head back to city hall first. That way -" The knocker on the front door downstairs thumped twice. Emma quickly ran to open the before Regina could awaken. "Rubes?" She gaped at her friend on the stoop.

"No more work today, Sheriff Swan. You and Regina, you're about to become moms AGAIN. Take time off with friends before you have no more free time. Got it?"

Emma laughed. "All right, all right. Fine. But I thought the shower was Saturday."

"We all wanted to surprise Regina. Now, take that food you're making and head upstairs. I'll text you when we're ready."

"You really want to surprise _Regina_?" Emma asked.

"She doesn't have access to her magic, right?"

"It's coming back," Emma pointed out, "but yeah, it's not ..."

"Good. I'm not really keen on getting a fireball to the face. But really, Henry wants it to be a surprise."

"But he told her he's planning it."

"The details are all still a surprise, right? He's running home from school now."

Emma worried, "You know how important she thinks his schooling is." Emma glanced out the door as Ruby came inside and saw cars lining the street and a tide of people walking up the path. _I guess this really is happening._ "Okay, well.. Sh," she said.

"School's out just a few minutes ago. Early day for everyone," Ruby said, turning to the line and copying Emma's "sh" with her fingers to her lips.

Emma watched the hushing sound passed down the line as people entered the house, some sort of decoration or small gift-wrapped package in every hand. And bringing up the rear was Henry still in school clothes and huffing with the weight of his backpack. Emma grasped his shoulder, holding him back from running past her.

A few people said, 'Hi, Sheriff," or "hi, Emma," but most just smiled and nodded and then caught Ruby waving them through the house and into the backyard.

Emma looked into Henry's eager face. "Kid."

"C'mon, Ma. Just this once. Unless you're going to make this a habit, I'm only becoming a big brother once."

She harrumphed. But when Henry rolled his eyes, she nodded. "Okay."

Emma retreated to the kitchen briefly and collected the plate of foods she'd prepared for Regina and went back upstairs. She peeked into the master bedroom and saw Regina still sleeping, so set the tray down on the top of the low dresser before backing out and walking into the nursery.

The sun, moon, and stars wallpaper had a dreamy flow. The elements absorbed light from the windows during the day and glowed at night. Right now the curtains were tied back. Down below in the yard Emma saw people setting up a tent. Her father was carrying in a table with Michael from the Auto Shop. Granny directed a steady stream of chair carriers into place under the tent. Ruby was wrapping the tent poles in crepe ribbons and … Emma's eyes widened, Henry and Snow were using a helium machine to blow up balloons, adding ribbons and tying them off on every conceivable surface. Including the branches of Regina's apple tree. Emma hoped that Regina would be okay with that.

She walked out of the nursery and stepped once again inside the master bedroom. On the front side of the house, Emma hoped it was far enough from any possible noise. She removed her boots and laid down next to Regina on the bed. The brunette continued quietly sleeping.

Emma texted a quick message to Ruby, "_Get my present out of the back of the Bug_."

"_Where's your car?"_ came back quickly.

"_At the station," _she typed back.

"Emma? Did you need something?" Regina's sleepy voice broke the quiet of Emma's taps on her phone screen.

"No," Emma said. "Go back to sleep."

"Who are you on the phone with?" The brunette rolled onto her back then onto her left side and looked up at Emma propped against pillows on the headboard. She reached out and brushed Emma's wrist.

"I'll leave if you need more quiet."

"No." Regina threw her foot over Emma's calf. "I didn't need a long nap."

"You're not getting a lot of sleep." Emma looked toward the dresser where she'd placed the tray of food. "You hungry though?"

"Something small?" Regina wrestled herself into sitting up and Emma helped her by arranging pillows behind her back. Then Emma poofed the tray to her lap. Crust-free and quartered deli meat sandwiches, cheese spread on crackers, and fingerling carrots with a sauce for dipping. "Everything looks wonderful," Regina said as she picked up a carrot and dipped it before crunching.

"If there's something else you want, you just let me know," Emma said. "I … you chose most of these when we've done this before."

"We should finish lunch and head back to the office," Regina said.

"It's just a few hours. The world won't end if every last piece of paper isn't filed by five o'clock."

Regina hummed around a cracker. Emma rolled her eyes as she realized there was nothing to drink. Quickly she held up her hands and poofed two glasses of juice into them. "Orange or grapefruit?" she asked.

Regina took the one with a slightly more orange hue and sipped quietly. Once her mouth was clear, she said, "Thank you."

"You're welcome." Emma drank the grapefruit juice herself.

"So you think we should play hooky from work, Sheriff Swan?" Emma flushed as the brunette's clearly lascivious thoughts created a warm pool in her own belly. "Or maybe you would rather play nookie?"

Hearing Regina use the blatantly sexual but cute word made Emma chuckle. She gave a slight nod, and that was all the permission Regina needed. With a flick of her wrist, Regina removed Emma's clothes.

"You are getting better," Emma said.

"Star doesn't seem to drain it so much any more," Regina said. "She's just taking every other ounce of my energy."

"You seem to have enough energy now." Emma hummed when the brunette leaned forward and kissed Emma, sharing the citrus taste of her juice, while fingers pulled at Emma's nipples and then slid down her belly, through her thatch of blonde hairs, and one curled up inside.

Regina straddled Emma's hips and used the more direct angle to push her fingers into her lover. A flow of wetness dampened Regina's palm and allowed her fingers even deeper. "I love being inside you."

Emma stroked Regina's belly before lifting a breast and pulling the nipple toward her mouth. A sudden punch against her chest caused her to look down. A foot was outlined on Regina's stretched skin. "Wow, strong kicker," she said with admiration.

Slipping off Emma's lap, Regina gave her belly more room and Emma wrapped her arm around her shoulder. "I miss making you orgasm," Regina said as she sat back, licking her fingers of Emma's shine.

"I'm not keeping count," Emma said.

Dark brown eyes always a sign of Regina's arousal still looked deeply concerned at Emma. "You don't feel… unsatisfied?"

"No. But if it helps you to know, I am just as ready for you to be not pregnant as you are."

"You are?"

"Mm hmmm," Emma leaned in to claim another kiss. "Fewer mood swings." She wiped tears from Regina's cheeks. "Look...I'm going to tell you something because I'm not sure it is better as a surprise."

"Surprise? What?"

Emma exhaled. "The entire town is downstairs in the yard setting up the baby shower."

"I thought the shower was Saturday?"

"Apparently Henry really wanted it to be a surprise."

Regina thought back to her regret that he would be leaving town, off to college, and her tears renewed. "Henry wanted to surprise us?"

"Yeah. And Regina? You can't hear them, but I swear the entire town is down there right now."

As Emma thought would happen, Regina burst into tears. As the pregnancy had advanced, yes, more and more people had said nice things, but a lifetime of conditioning didn't just stop all the self-recriminations overnight. It was emotionally taxing to realize people honestly cared. "Are you sure they don't…" The brunette's voice trailed off and her arms hugged her belly.

"Yes. Everyone wants to meet Star, _our _baby, and wish her mothers - _both _of us - happiness."

"Emma?"

"Yes?"

"Why didn't you let them to surprise me?"

Emma nuzzled Regina's cheek. "Because I know how you are about showing your emotions in front of other people. I can hear your thoughts, remember? I didn't want you to cry, then feel guilty about it, then get angry at everyone and push them away," Emma said. "I want you happy and relaxed."

"Thank you."

Resting their temples together, they were both startled when Emma's phone buzzed, signaling a text message.

"_We're ready to welcome the moms," _Ruby's message read.

Emma showed Regina the screen. "So, you… ready to be... happy?"

Brown eyes glistened but tears were wiped aside and Regina nodded.

"All right." Emma helped Regina off the bed and while she dressed, she texted Ruby back. "_On our way."_

* * *

Regina walked behind Emma toward the back of the house, fingers fidgeting as she looked down at her clothes. Emma had assured her she looked wonderful in the sleeveless dress with the high waist and the stretchy shorts underneath were keeping her modesty.

It was a far cry from her power suits, and while the staff at City Hall had adjusted and still saw her as their boss, she did feel more vulnerable.

Emma's hand suddenly covered hers. She looked up to find green eyes smiling. "Together, right?" The blonde's other hand was on the frame of the door to the yard.

"Together," Regina echoed. Emma smiled then turned around and pushed through the doorway, guiding Regina behind her.

A cacophony of cheers and "surprise!" and "Regina!" and "Emma!" filled the air as Regina stepped out into the afternoon sunshine. She felt the moment she rolled her lower lip through her teeth and consciously exhaled, finishing with a smile.

Snow stepped forward and Regina eyed her warily when Snow gave a bright, too bright, smile, but said nothing. Ruby stepped up next to Snow and smiled warmly and genuinely. "Congratulations, Emma…" Snow started, then lifted her chin and nodded, "and Regina."

Emma and Ruby hugged, then Ruby went to Regina and out of the corner of her eye, Regina saw Snow hugging Emma. Then suddenly she was face to face with her former stepdaughter with Ruby and Emma at their sides.

"Regina," Snow started then cleared her throat. "I wish you every happiness."

"Thank you, Snow." She thought that would be it until Snow jolted forward and she was suddenly, awkwardly, being hugged.

Star kicked at the pressure. Snow backed up, her eyes wide with alarm. "What was..?"

"Star," Regina replied, rubbing her belly where the baby had kicked.

Emma added, "Cramped spaces make her kick."

"Oh." Snow's head swiveled between them both. "Sorry."

Ruby grabbed Regina's hand but before Regina could object to being "handled" she was guided to an abundantly cushioned rocking chair. "Your first present," Ruby said. "We know you probably still have one you used when Henry was first here, but... padding, am I right?"

Regina eased back into the cushions, using the arms of the chair which were canted wide and also plushly covered. "It's…" She studied the blonde stained ash and ran her fingers over the satin finish. "Thank you," she finally added. The waitress' smile took over her entire face, but then Ruby turned away.

"We didn't forget you, Em," Ruby said, raising her voice and gesturing with her hand. Regina watched four men bring forward a large wooden rocking horse. Marco, hat in hand, walked behind them. The horse had a padded seat shaped like a saddle and cushions sewn in puffy bumps as a mane.

"What's this?" Emma asked.

"Every White Knight needs a horse for rocking her kid's world," Ruby replied.

"You know I don't ride, Rubes." Regina read Emma's intent when the blonde turned to Marco.

"You can learn," Regina stated firmly. She smiled at the woodcarver. She could already envision Emma cradling Star to her chest and rocking in the sunlight.

"Any chance grandfathers get to use it?" David asked.

There was laughter, a few _yeses_ and a few _nos_. Emma hugged Marco and then settled sideways on the rocking horse next to Regina as the baby shower officially began with the two of them seated in the center of the celebration.

* * *

The gifts and games were finished and people were milling around the yard eating. "Look! What's that?" someone shouted.

Emma and Regina looked up following the direction of fingers pointing. Dozens of dots of color danced down toward the lawn party from the skies. They sensed the magic in the air at the same time and grasped hands.

The leading dots enlarged, lengthened and took shape and form. The Blue Fairy and dozens of the convent nuns - uh, fairies - stood in the grass around Regina's apple tree, their wands lowering to their sides.

"Blue?" Emma stood up. Despite the woman's assurances, she was still leery to let her too close to Regina. She glanced back toward Regina to make sure she was okay.

"We have come to welcome the newest royal child," Blue said. "As fairies have done for generations." She nodded to Snow and David.

"Your damn candle hurt Regina and Star. Left her vulnerable to Gold."

"That was not my intention. Star's hunger for magic was... unforeseen."

"Emma," Snow stepped forward, "Blue's powerful. She can help you protect Star."

"I'm pretty powerful too," Emma growled. "After all, I made a baby with Regina that 'shouldn't be possible'."

Shame - at least Emma hoped it was shame - stained Blue's cheeks red. "I know I was wrong, Savior. Star _is_ your child."

"And Regina's." Emma sat down, grasping Regina's hand on the woman's legs.

"Of course. But you know, the Dark One won't stop coming after her," the Blue Fairy said.

"He's locked up with the cuff."

Blue replied, "A simple jail cell won't hold him forever."

Snow said, "But you made the chamber that held him under the castle in the Enchanted Forest?"

The Blue Fairy turned to Snow. "I now know he wouldn't have been contained, unless he desired it."

Emma nodded. She'd figured this much out. It had been part of Rumplestiltskin's plan to get here to find Neal. But he couldn't cast the curse or break it. So they'd all been his pawns.

Ruby and Granny stepped between Emma and Blue. "He won't get through us," Granny growled. When Emma glanced sideways she was surprised to see the shadow of a snout starting to form.

"The Dark One isn't easily diverted," Blue replied.

Regina's grip held Emma silent. Cupping her hand protectively over her belly, she asked, "What do you propose?"

"That Rumpelstiltskin be exiled, sent over the town line to separate him from his magic."

Emma saw Regina frown. She knew that Rumple and Regina had a strained, mixed up, antagonistic relationship, but also felt the woman's concern. "How could we be certain it worked?"

"To start, we need the dagger," Blue said.

"You'll have to get Neal and Belle to help you," Emma said. "He certainly wouldn't let one of us take it." Emma felt the stress creeping in the more she thought about it. And through their link, she felt Regina's exhaustion. "We can meet tomorrow to discuss it."

"Of course." The Blue Fairy withdrew.

The mood of the party changed after that, and many started leaving.

* * *

Emma carried the last gifts, including a blanket knit by Granny, up to the nursery space, recalling when she had the blanket placed in her lap.

_The blanket was mostly pale cream like her own, but with a moon and scatter of stars. She traced the name 'Star' in royal purple thread below the largest star. "_ _How'd you know what we'd name her?"_

_"Didn't. But her mothers are both magic," Granny said._

_"What's more magical to a werewolf than the full moon and a night full of stars, hmm?" Ruby had stepped back from leaving her own gift in Regina's lap, a gray onesie with a stenciled wolf on the front._

Placing the blanket in the cradle and feeling strengthened by the love of their friends, Emma returned to the backyard to find Henry and Snow and Regina seated at the picnic table. Sunset colored the lawn in golds and reds.

"Everything's inside," Emma said.

"Emma?" Snow looked up.

"Yeah?" She approached the table. "David's out front already."

"Thank you." Her mother looked from Emma back to Regina, then Henry before looking back at Emma. "I wanted to say again how happy I am for you both."

"Thank you, Mom."

"And... I-I'm sorry for not being more... supportive of your choices."

"Thank you for noticing," Emma sighed. She put a hand behind the brunette's lower back and rubbed, the motion soothing her, Regina, _and_ Star with the physical contact. "You and Dad are important to me, but Regina, Henry, Star... this is _mine_."

"I'm beginning to understand." Snow said and her expression clearly showed she felt thoroughly chastised.

Emma moved them on. "Thank you for the baby sling."

"Yes, um, the … internet… said it would help with… bonding," Snow said.

Though she, Star, and Regina were already bonded through magic, emotions and thoughts, Emma accepted the sentiment. "Thank you."

"You'll let us know if there is anything else we can do to help you?" Snow asked.

Emma felt a tension release in her chest and her smile widened. "Mm hmmm."

"Okay."

Henry stood up when Snow left. "Did you enjoy the party, Ma?"

"You planned a great party, Henry," Emma said. The diapering watermelons contest had been silly, and the flour sack burping practice had even Regina laughing when Emma's burping method had exploded the bag all over her shoulder, side of her face, and down her back. Thankfully a quick poof of magic and everything was cleaned up.

"How about you, Mom?" Regina looked up from her hands to her son's earnest questioning face.

"Very much. Thank you, Henry." He smiled. Emma searched beyond Regina's sparse answer and found the subdued sentiments were because the brunette was tired. Regina was also annoyed by the fact she was tired.

"I love you, Mom." Henry wrapped his arms around his mother's shoulders and hugged her around the head and neck. The brunette's hand came up to his arm and squeezed lightly.

"I love you, too, Henry."

When Henry had gone inside, Emma brushed hair off the brunette's shoulder and kissed the spot where throat and shoulder met. "Hey, you wanna just go up to bed? We don't have anything else planned, and well, all the snacks... We can skip a formal dinner plan this once, hmm?"

Regina's brown eyes were half-closed. "I suppose."

"Good. Okay." Emma kissed Regina's temple and in a sweep of her hand poofed them up to the bedroom. "Here we go."

"Thank you, Emma." Regina sat down and gave a feeble wave of her hand which resulted in removing most of her clothing, though not all. She remained in her underwear and a maternity bra which helped steady her swelling breasts. Yeah, the woman was exhausted.

Emma kissed Regina again when she had lay back and helped her bring her feet up onto the mattress. She also adjusted another pillow between the woman's knees so Regina could get comfortable around her girth without straining her back. "There."

The moment Regina's eyes were closed, her breathing deepened and slowed. When Emma started for the door and stubbed her toe on the bedpost then cursed, the woman in the bed didn't stir at all.

###


	24. Chapter 24

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Delivery day.

Laying in bed as the faintest rays of dawn started to creep into their bedroom, Regina sighed. She was tired of being tired. The nesting stage had been so much more fun, she thought. She looked up to the ceiling where the mirror reflected Emma sleeping beside her, blonde hair splayed as the princess she was. The stirrings of lust, as always, filled Regina at the sight, but she simply no longer had energy to consider anything beyond kisses. Dr. Whale had said she was putting on a lot of weight and even much of her maternity wear no longer really fit, so she didn't feel particularly attractive. Though Emma assured her frequently she was "the most beautiful woman I've ever seen."

Star shifted abruptly and Regina cupped the hard ridge of her belly. "What are you doing?" she asked in a sharp whisper.

"Wha? Hmm?" Emma mumbled.

Regina closed her eyes and tried to calm herself and Star through a few deep breathing exercises. The baby stretched, then seemed to shift downward. Regina had the sudden urge to pee. _Right now_.

"I don't move fast anymore," Regina reminded Star wryly. The baby shifted again, so Regina nodded, conceding that it would be either move or wet the bed. "Okay, I'm going," she promised her daughter.

Wrestling to her side, Regina dropped her feet off the bed and finally, between using her hands and her thighs, she stood.

The next shift came suddenly and Regina thought she had lost the contents of her bladder when she felt warmth on her sock-covered feet. But her bladder didn't hold nearly that much fluid any more.

_My water's broken? _"Emma!" She clutched her belly as the the muscles, tight as a drumhead, squeezed even more firmly. "Em! Mmfff." She bit her lip. "Em-ma!"

"What? Huh?" Emma shot upright and blinked rapidly. "Regina?"

"My water broke."

"Water? Well, here's another glass." The blonde poofed and held out a glass of water from the kitchen.

"No." Regina exhaled as the pain momentarily eased. "Darling. My water has broken. I'm in labor."

"Labor? Uh, oh. Um. Right. Labor!" Green eyes blinked, then the blonde rubbed them furiously and launched herself off the bed to the other side, tangling in the sheets and crashing to the floor. "Shit!"

Regina felt love and laughter swelling in her chest at the sight of Emma tangled in the bedding. However, this was no time for levity, so she bit her lip. "Quiet. You'll wake Henry."

"Henry!" Regina rolled her eyes as Emma's call resulted in more crashing sounds coming from their son's room down the hall. Suddenly their 11-year-old son stood in the bedroom doorway. In her soaked nightgown, Regina was essentially naked.

Brown eyes gaped wide and he spun around. "Ma! Mom!"

Regina snatched up her robe from the vanity chair. "Henry, please take the bag to the car. Find my keys. Then call your grandparents." she said.

"What about you?" he asked, not turning around.

"Your mother will take me downstairs to the car in a moment."

"Right." Henry bolted out of the doorway, and she heard his feet thudding down the staircase.

In the time it had taken Regina to give Henry directions, Emma disappeared into the master bathroom and dressed herself, though her t-shirt was on backwards. The blonde came around to the other side of the bed where Regina was having a difficult time deciding how best to walk.

"You all right?"

"I feel if I move she's going to drop right out," Regina confessed.

"Nope, no way." Emma's kiss to her forehead calmed Regina marginally. "Doesn't happen like that. You've probably still got a few hours ahead of you. Just so, we'll take it slow anyway." Emma held Regina's arm while Regina shuffled forward a few careful steps. "How's it feel?"

Relieved, Regina said, "The feeling is fading." 

"Maybe it's those false labor pains?" Emma asked.

"But the water break - I don't know. I'll go to the bathroom. If it doesn't come back…"

"Yeah. Right. Okay." Emma followed Regina to the bathroom.

Regina closed the door and sat on the toilet. A few exhalations and her bladder emptied with a trickle. "My feet are still wet." She changed her socks with a wave of her hand.

Pain gripped her middle again. She gasped and tried to bend over it, only to be frustrated by her belly in the way. She spread her legs and the pain radiated to her back. "Em-_argh_!"

Emma opened the door. "Henry's got the bag in the car."

Regina looked up from her bent position, still feeling the bands like steel squeezing. "I... don't... think... it's... fals-_ah god_!"

"Okay. Okay." Emma lifted Regina off the toilet seat. "We're going to the hospital. They can tell us to go home if it's not, but damn, you do look ready to pop."

"Thank you so much," Regina bit out between clenched teeth. Then the pain receded. "Okay, let's move quickly while I can."

Emma navigated them downstairs. Henry stood at the doorway, holding up the Mercedes keys. "I told you we should use my car," Emma said.

"Speed is of the essence," Regina said.

"Why don't I just poof us to the hospital then?"

"And what if I _am_ in labor? What will happen to Star in the middle of a poofed contraction?"

"I don't know."

"Exactly. We have to do this the old-fashioned way. You who are so fond of that for everything else." Emma bit her lip; Regina sighed. The nursery was so beautiful. Magic couldn't have done any better. Regina sighed as she felt the emotional rollercoaster slow as the pain receded. "I'm sorry, Emma, fighting isn't what I want."

"Agreed."

Emma helped Regina down the few steps of the stoop and to the Mercedes which was not in the driveway, but at the end of the walk on the street already. Realizing their son had moved it, Regina snapped, "Henry!"

"It was only a few feet," he said. "I'll wait here for Grandma and Grandpa."

"All right," Regina conceded. She was relieved to be without pain for a few moments but also knew the ordeal was just beginning. As Emma stepped out of the way, Regina smiled at Henry from the passenger seat. "I love you, Henry."

He rushed to the car door, leaned down, and kissed her head. "I love you too, Mom. And Ma!" He closed the door.

Emma got in the driver seat and soon the engine purred, vibrating the frame and soothing a lot of Regina's worst pains. "Mmmmm," she sighed.

When Emma shifted the car into gear the tires squealed. The Mercedes peeled from a dead stop to what felt like top speed in its advertised 6.2 seconds. Grabbing for the grip above her head, Regina shouted, "Emma! Slow down!"

David's pale blue pickup truck was coming the other way when they reached the end of the street. Seeing David and Snow in the truck cab, Regina relaxed; she could focus on her own predicament now, knowing Henry would be supervised.

The drive was a blur. Regina was grateful that another contraction had not started in the car. In fact, when Emma pulled her upright from the passenger seat, Regina was about to suggest they go home when she saw white and felt another pain, this one like a lance, as it tore through her middle. "Ah!" She grasped her stomach and tried to send a thought to Star to slow down. But the baby, it seemed, had gone stubbornly silent in her quest to exit Regina's body.

Regina hesitated on the pavement with alarm. "I can't hear her," she gasped, fighting to push the words out, needing Emma to know.

Emma held her tight. "What?"

"I can't feel Star, Emma. Something's wrong."

Not questioning her assessment, Emma simply closed her eyes and laid her palm on Regina's belly. White light spread from her fingers. Emma's face scrunched up.

Though anxious, Regina tried to be patient. She bit her lip as a painful contraction gripped her body, but then she felt a wave of relief wash through her, easing the pain. Emma's voice broke the silence. "Okay. Okay. Star's okay. She's just… frustrated and pushing back."

"Ask her to stop, please." Regina's gaze snapped to Whale walking toward them in the hospital corridor. "At least wait until we get you into a room."

With Whale under one arm, and Emma under the other, Regina unsteadily waddled to a wheelchair being pushed by a nurse.

"Delivery," Whale ordered.

"Yes, doctor," the nurse said.

* * *

Emma hesitated at the doorway to the delivery room where Whale had directed her after ordering her into a gown and mask. The plain door with its security-grid glass was a reminder of delivering Henry and being cuffed to a gurney. She'd been terrified amid the sterile surrounding and terse faces of her guard and the doctors and nurses.

Regina's scream pushed her through the door though and quickly across the threshold. "Regina!"

Emma stepped into a recreation of their bedroom. The only item that revealed it to be a hospital space was the fetal monitor in the corner displaying radio-signaled information from the band secured around Regina's belly. Regina's nurse stood next to her, talking quietly as she patted a cloth to Regina's forehead.

"You ready?" the woman asked her, pinning Emma in place with a sudden look.

"Uh, yeah, I guess."

"Get over here." Emma moved forward automatically at the nurse's order. "On the bed." She climbed up next to Regina. "No, get behind her. That's it, put your arms around her."

Regina sighed as Emma pressed against her back. "Are you cold?" Emma asked when she fully registered that Regina wore only an open-back medical gown.

"No." Regina gripped Emma's hands as another contraction stole her breath. "Ah, mmmfff," she bit off a gasp. "Em…." she started only for her voice to trail off.

Resting her head on Regina's shoulder, Emma spread her legs around Regina's lower back and hips. "I got you."

The brunette's hands gripped Emma's knees, making her glad she wore jeans or sharp nails would be scratching her skin. Regina's panting slowed and Emma thought it safe to ask about the different room.

"Why our bedroom?" She no longer felt weird saying it and Regina's smile accompanied a similar thought from her.

"I wanted this to be different than it was," Regina said quietly. Taking a deep breath, she continued, "for you."

"We're together. That's already so close to perfect," Emma said. "But, thank you." She kissed Regina's throat and tasted the sweat already gathered on the laboring woman's dark skin. Regina sniffed and Emma realized she was crying. "What's wrong?" She took a cool damp cloth from the nurse-midwife and wiped Regina's face and neck.

Regina looked over her shoulder into Emma's green eyes. "Em-ma. Will you marry me?"

They'd been dancing around the idea for months, Emma knew. She'd felt several times that they were more a family, more a couple, without the words, than with them. The whole actions speak louder thing. She'd been afraid that the words would sound trite. What she felt for Regina, for Henry and Star, were profound belonging. But marriage was a contract. Regina had pointed out contracts were binding. No way out. Which is why, despite her feelings, Emma hadn't asked.

But here was the brunette asking _her._ "You want to marry me?"

"I asked first," Regina murmured.

Their conversation was interrupted as Regina experienced another lengthy contraction and Emma coached her through it.

Regina grumbled, "But you've been thinking about us as married for weeks. Why haven't you proposed?"

"I- Yeah. I guess... the whole contract...not your thing. You weren't given a choice about your first marriage."

Regina exhaled through another contraction. "You are not your grandfather."

"Then," Emma went on after giving Regina a kiss on the cheek. "Getting pregnant wasn't really your choice either."

"But you know I -" Regina cut herself off as another contraction started.

While massaging Regina's back, Emma said, "Why are you asking now?"

"I want our family," Regina teared up as emotions hit her. Even Emma felt the backwash of Regina's emotions as if a dam had broken between them.

Emma kissed away the tears from Regina's cheeks. All these emotions in such a beautiful person, Emma thought. She might have to admit to missing "emotional roller coaster" Regina after things hormonally returned to normal. "We're not going to be a traditional family. In any sense of the word."

Regina grimaced and turned away from Emma. Under both their hands, Emma felt the banded muscles of Regina's uterus contracting steel-hard, rippling, pushing. Just when it seemed too long, Regina gave out a small cry and the pressure seemed to slack off just a little.

Continuing to talk with Regina, partly to clear the air, but also to keep the woman mentally occupied, Emma went on. "I know you love Star, and I know you love me but, hey, you planned this room so I wouldn't relive the way I gave birth to Henry. I want you to see marriage to me will be as different from your first as possible."

"My entire life became different the first night you walked into it," Regina said. There was a tinge of the snark that typified their interactions from the beginning and Emma felt giddy.

She laughed and kissed Regina's temple again. She smiled through her own joyful tears. "I love you, too, Regina. Yes, I'll marry you."

"Time to bring this baby into the family, I'd say," the nurse interjected. "Are you ready?"

Emma and Regina replied together. "Ready."

* * *

When she saw Star's dark head emerging from Regina, Emma wept. Dr. Whale's hands almost obscured the baby's face as he adjusted the baby's shoulders and told Regina to "push once more." Then the entire body slipped free. Regina's body went almost completely limp. Emma quickly pressed a kiss to Regina's shoulder and then met tired brown eyes.

They both turned at the sound of their baby's cry; it was whimpers then cries.

"Good lungs," Whale remarked as he wiped the birth fluid from around Star's face and hair.

Emma strained to see the baby's face when Whale turned her upright. The light above the birthing bed shook as someone moved quickly forward to take Star in a cotton blanket.

"Can we hold her?" Emma said, her voice choked.

"Of course," Whale said. He nodded to the nurse who walked the bundle over to the head of the bed.

Emma swallowed nervously as Star was brought near; she hadn't allowed herself this moment when Henry was born, too afraid to get attached, having already made the decision...

"Can I see her?" Regina's voice was completely washed out, barely a whisper. Her eyes were full of tears and Emma felt a wash of gratitude, love, and wonder wash over her through her link with the brunette. Emma remembered Regina had never expected the opportunity in her lifetime to hold _any_ children. Now, Emma realized, _she_ had given the brunette _two_.

"Here." She took Star from the nurse, kissing the girl's forehead before placing her on Regina's bare chest. Skin to skin, Emma marveled at how perfectly matched they were. Star had her mother's darker skin coloring in addition to her dark hair. Her eyes were screwed shut as her cries became whimpering then quiet, against the familiarity of Regina's heartbeat.

Regina nodded, staring down at her daughter. "Star," she murmured and kissed the top of her dark hair. "Welcome to Storybrooke," she added.

###


	25. Chapter 25

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And here we have the conclusion of my little tale. I hope you have enjoyed. Thank you all for your comments, kudos, and follows. ~ LZ

Regina felt like she was swimming up through molasses as she awoke. Arms and legs felt leaden; her eyelids dragged with ten ton weights. Flexing her fingers, she found cotton fabric between them. Attempting to move her head and open her eyes to see what was in her hands, she winced at the stiffness in her back and neck.

"Hey." Emma's voice sounded so close. Regina wondered how the blonde was with her.

Then, she remembered the delivery, laying among bed pillows, Emma cradling her against her body and breathing with her. Her stomach tensed in memory of the contractions and seemingly endless pain. Then she felt again the pressure release the moment she saw and felt Star slide free. Even before Whale had scooped Star into his hands, the little girl's squalling pierced the air and Regina could hardly see her through the sheets of tears falling from her eyes.

"Hey," she murmured to answer Emma and then blinked her eyes open. The lights where they were had been lowered and she fretted only that she didn't have a sense of the time.

"It's almost sundown." Emma answered her unspoken thought. "How are you feeling?" Green eyes smiled at her, filled with so much love it made Regina blush.

"I could sleep for a month." She tried to sit up only to strangely still feel pregnant, her chest heavy and weighted. She tilted her gaze down and found a dark head of hair lay against her bare breast. Her left arm and Emma's right hand were both atop blankets wrapped around Star resting on her chest. Regina tried to moved to better see Star's face, but had to stop and rest her head on Emma's shoulder.

"Is she… is Star all right?" Regina moved her hand on Star's back, concerned the baby wasn't moving.

"She's great. She came back from her tests sound asleep."

Regina didn't remember the baby being taken away nor her return. "Tests?"

"Yeah, everything… You kinda fell asleep quick, but Star...she's perfect." Emma's lips brushed Regina's eyes. "Just like her mom."

"I feel… drugged," Regina said slowly. "Why don't I remember this? Did they give me something?"

"No drugs. You're just exhausted. Adrenaline wore off from delivery." Emma lifted onto her elbow and looked down at Regina, brushing hair from her cheek. Regina felt something wriggle against her chest and against her aching abdomen. "Looks like Star's awake finally," Emma said.

"Oh." Regina tried to adjust her hands, as Emma leaned back, but her arm muscles still didn't quite cooperate, and she could only limply pat the baby's back. The weakness scared her. She bit her lip and tears trickled out of the corners of her eyes. "I can't pick her up," she whimpered.

"Probably just your position. You were fine earlier, but you've slipped down a bit." Emma asked. "I'll help you sit up."

"Thank you."

Emma pulled herself with envious ease off the bed and Regina awkwardly hugged around Star while pillows and cushions were rearranged and she was gradually elevated to a sitting position. Her abdomen protested, but she felt vastly more in control by the time she and Emma together adjusted her hold on Star. Tugging aside the corner of the baby's swaddling, Regina finally could look at her daughter's face.

Emma's hand adjusting the blanket made her look up at the blonde. "Thank you," she said.

Emma lifted her green eyes from Star and Regina choked on giddiness she couldn't control, didn't want to control. She smiled widely.

"No. Thank you, Regina. Thank you for accepting me, for giving me a second chance... at everything." Emma leaned forward. Their noses brushed. "I truly love you."

"Truly?" Regina's wry delivery made Emma chuckle. Brown eyes rolled and Emma cupped her cheek. Regina tilted her head so their lips could meet.

Star's eyelids fluttered. Her first close up view on the world was her mothers kissing.

* * *

_Late afternoon the next day..._

When Emma took Star from her arms to buckle the baby into the backseat child carrier, Regina pushed up out of the wheelchair and stood to get in the Mercedes. She still felt tender in many muscles and tired. But she smiled; her family was going home. Suddenly, she felt a breeze across her skin and brushed her arms against the chill. Strangely though there was no wind, she realized when she saw no trees shifting nearby.

Once they were buckled into the front seat, Regina's gaze found Emma's. "What was that?"

"People crossing the town line." Emma's answer was quick enough for Regina to realize she had been prepared for whatever it was.

"Who," Regina asked, "is _at_ the town line? And why aren't you?"

"Neal's traveling back to New York today."

"Oh." Regina felt relief at hearing Henry's father would not be underfoot any longer.

"He took his father with him."

_Rumplestiltskin is gone from Storybrooke?_ Perhaps that explained the magic backwash she'd felt. "Today was the day?"

After the Blue Fairy's suggestion, Emma had demanded specifics and to be part of whatever was planned.

"Yeah, we had the final ingredients last week and then Blue said at the full moon she could cast it."

"That's why you were late coming home two nights ago. Potion mixing without me?" It had been only a small portion of the magic practice they'd done together, but suddenly Regina felt like she'd lost out on part of Emma's development.

Emma reached across the gear shift and grasped Regina's fingers. "Yeah, learning magic without you, I know. But it means I'm sure he'll just be Rupert Gold one of the idle rich in New York."

"Can he ever return?"

"Even if he did, Blue assures that crossing the line will fully separate his magic. Belle is keeping the Dagger here."

Regina resolved as soon as possible to have a talk with the librarian and find a permanent way to secure the ancient magic.

* * *

Emma parked the Mercedes in the driveway at Mifflin Street. She helped Regina out of the car and passed Star to her. "Wait for me," she said at the brunette started toward the front door.

"All right."

Grabbing the bag full of baby supplies and Regina's overnight bag, Emma shifted both handles into one hand before she hurried around the end of the car. She put her hand across Regina's back, guiding her as they walked up the steps together to the front door.

It opened before Emma could reach for the knob.

"Welcome home!" Snow and Henry stood in the doorway.

Regina blinked. "Snow? Henry?"

"Can I see my sister?" Henry asked.

"Of course, dear." Regina stepped forward and Henry backed up. She tugged back the edge of the swaddling. From next to her mother, Emma saw Henry's face light up with a huge smile.

"Hey, Star," he said, awe filling his voice as he reached for a tiny moving hand.

"Are Neal and Gold gone?" Emma asked her mother.

"Yes. Belle decided she should also go," Snow replied.

"Oh?" That hadn't been the plan when Emma had left the group to collect Regina from the hospital.

"She said she couldn't be happy without him," Snow said. "He's her True Love." Snow turned to Regina. "Blue said she wants to consult with Emma and you when you're up to it, about the Dagger."

"Where is it now?" Regina asked.

"Blue encased it in a stone. Says no one can get it out except the Savior." Snow looked at Emma. "I hope that's all right?"

Emma turned her gaze from watching Regina and Henry looking at Star. "Just so I know it won't harm my family."

Snow nodded. "She assured me only you can touch it now." She looked toward Henry and Regina then back to Emma. "I should get home myself. Henry helped me put a casserole together. It's in the oven on warm."

Emma's gaze followed her mother to the end of the walkway. "Mom?"

"Yes?"

"Bring Dad by next week? Dinner? I'll grill."

Her mother's eyes lit up. "Your father will want to help."

"I know."

"I do love you, Emma."

"I know. I love you, too, Mom."

"Ma!"

Hearing Henry's voice, Snow nudged Emma's arm. "You'd better get inside. To your family."

"Yeah." Emma turned, reentered the home, closed the door, and started up the stairs.

"Emma," Regina called from somewhere upstairs.

With a smile, Emma lifted her hand and snapped her fingers together, vanishing in a poof of white smoke.

She reappeared in the nursery where Regina was just laying Star in her cradle. Henry smiled at them from across the other side while Emma took Regina's hand and together they looked down at their daughter.

###


End file.
